


Behind Enemy Lines

by Hunters_Grace



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - World War II, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-04-20 16:39:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14265228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hunters_Grace/pseuds/Hunters_Grace
Summary: When WWII had demanded US attention, Captain Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano had been one of the most qualified soldiers to lead the American Armies on the European front - and when a German traitor had offered her a way to end the war, it was a chance she'd had to take.But when things start to go from bad to worse - will Reyna be stuck in a destructive Nazi Germany, or will an SS soldier with a dangerous tendency for breaking rules manage to help her escape from Behind Enemy Lines.





	1. Prisoner of War

**Author's Note:**

> World War II AU where US Captain Ramírez finds herself in the kind of trouble that you don't get out of...  
> That is, unless you have serious help - and right now, she was seriously lacking in that department.  
> A bit of an unorthodox fic, but I'm studying German history and if anyone could fit into this universe it's these characters - no demigods in this universe but they're all still heroes in their own way.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

March 21 1943 - Berlin, Germany.

Reyna stood to one side of the exhibition hall, watching the Fuhrer move through the room. Gertsdorff walked alongside the man, and Reyna could see the sweat forming on his brow as he attempted to stall the German leader’s exit - but it didn’t work. Hitler waved off the soldier and strode away with Himmler by his side.

Gertsdorff had desperately turned to meet the young American’s eyes as the bomb he was wearing ticked down its timer. The woman had pulled a Gestapo coat that she’d stolen from a now dead guard on when she’d entered the room, and she used that false identity to simply push her way out of the room - signalling the man to follow her more discreetly. The German had eventually found his way to the storage room they’d used as an entrance point for the assassination attempt - finding the US army team waiting for him: Reyna, Percy, Will, and Connor had managed to get in to help the man on his mission, but the bomb plot had quickly become a suicide mission and now they were let with a German soldier rigged with explosives that were set to detonate in 2 minutes.

“Connor, can you diffuse it?” The soldier had nodded and set to work as quickly as he could, the other three unable to do anything but watch as the Stoll swore at his twitching hands before finally managing to get a hold of the right wire and cut it clean. “Well done, Private.”

“Thank you Captain, you okay Rudolf?”

“Ja, danke…” The German relaxed against the wall of the room as he thanked the young American team that had tried to help him free his country.

The group were at a loss of what to do now though, they had failed their main objective and Reyna huffed in annoyance as she threw the Gestapo coat from her shoulders. This was not how this mission was supposed to go - it had always been a long shot considering how poorly previous assassination attempts on the Fuhrer had gone, but they’d had hope for a while that this would be the one to finally succeed. A knock at the door brought the group’s rapt attention away from their failure though - they were still in Nazi Germany, and they couldn’t stay here. 

Reyna all but shoved Percy down the open manhole to the sewers that were supposed to be their exit, but they hadn’t managed to get any further before the door had been yanked open and a gun had been loaded behind them. 

“Einfrieren! Hände wo ich sie Verräter sehen kann. Nicht bewegen.” (Freeze! Hands where I can see them traitor. Don’t move.) The German had tumbled from the mouth of the woman that had discovered them, Reyna barely managing to catch all the words as they were spoken. 

“Sorry mate, no comprende.” Connor said easily as he took a shot at the girl, allowing enough time for Will to dive back through the escape before the German returned his fire and sent a bullet into each of the Stoll’s shoulders.

“Warten sie mal! Kapitän Grazie, bitte.” 

Reyna stumbled back against a wall as the traitor they’d worked with begged his Captain for mercy. The girl’s eyes flickered with sadness for a moment and the American almost thought she was going to grant him that mercy - at least until she caught sight of the badge on her shoulder, an ‘SS’ emblazoned across it.

The girl shot once, and the man fell heavy against the floor. The German then turning her attention to Reyna. The American met the gaze of almost electric blue eyes, the woman’s jaw clenching as she flicked short hair out of her eyes to train her weapon on the brunette.

“Keine heldentaten mehr Amerikaner… Aufgeben.” (No more heroics American… Surrender).

Reyna wasn’t one to give up easily, but she knew also wasn’t stupid enough to not realise when she was beaten. So the girl put her hands up, and allowed the SS soldier to arrest her - this was bad. She was behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany… no one came back from this.

Reyna was led through the corridors of the ministry of defence by the soldier. To what fate, she did not know.

They eventually reached large black doors somewhere near the top of the building, the guards outside asking why the young SS Captain was here.

“Ich habe einen Gefangenen für den Führer.”

A prisoner… Prisoner was good, prisoner wasn’t next victim… Reyna tried as best she could to swallow her nerves as the woman behind her pushed her into the large circular room. The man every person in the known world feared, standing to meet them halfway.

“Gut gemacht Kapitän, endlich haben wir jemanden von hohem rang. Geleite sie zu Sobibor und bring mir etwas, womit ich diesen Krieg gewinnen kann.”

The Fuhrer spoke at such speed that Reyna couldn’t have kept up if she’d tried, and she did try… at least until one part of the sentence sent her brain into meltdown.

Sobibor.

It was one of the most notorious prison camps, turned concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Her odds were bleak when she was arrested, but if they sent her to Sobibor it was almost certain that she’d never return. The Allied forces were starting to make advancements, but they weren’t even close to liberating any of the established concentration camps - hell they didn’t even have exact information on where any of them were. Reyna had been prepared for a lot when she’d entered this war, but the concentration camps was not one of the things she’d expected to have to face.

She was stopped in her train of thoughts then, as a gun collided heavily against her head. When she next came around, she was handcuffed to the piping of a radiator in a small room - the desk opposite her occupied by the girl who had found them before. 

As she made to move, the American groaned at the pain pounding against her temple and she heard the woman drop her pen as she turned on the metal chair she was sat in to look at her.

The SS Captain had moved to crouch in front of the brunette, opening her hand to offer her two small white pills. Reyna pushing herself against the wall to move as far away from the German as she could. Blue eyes rolled, and she huffed in mild annoyance as she moved to fetch the container from her desk and showing the American the label that clearly read ‘Aspirin’ across the label. The girl offered her the pills again and Reyna hesitantly took the pills, relieved when the pounding in her head started to subside a few minutes later.

The woman took a seat again, but didn’t remove her gaze from Reyna as she seemed to think hard about something. Clearing her throat first, shaky and heavily accented English words found their way from the girl’s mouth.

“Welcome to Sobibor Captain Ramírez…”


	2. Sobibor Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The German Captain explains the situation in Germany for many of its citizens, and Reyna gets a first hand look at what some of the SS leadership is doing to German citizens and the rest of the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reyna gets an answer as to why an SS Captain would be trying to help her after the girl possibly saves her life by getting her to avoid an altercation with the cruelest SS man in Germany.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Reyna regarded the girl for a moment, the SS Captain that had just… helped her? 

The girl was relatively young for such a senior position, and the black of her short hair seemed in complete contrast to the pale white of her skin. Blue eyes stayed on her as she waited for some kind of reaction from the American, Reyna just staring at her for a moment. She imagined the other girl would’ve been quite attractive had the black SS uniform not been there - the SS were known worldwide for one thing and one thing only, their brutality… so why the hell was she just trying to talk to her.

“Y-You helped me, why?” Reyna cursed the fact that her voice had stuttered and watched the other girl shrug.

“Would you prefer me to not?”

The girl’s voice was so thick with her accent that it made some words a little hard to catch, but as soon as the words registered with her Reyna had shook her head.

“No, I- I’m just surprised… The SS aren’t exactly known for their kindness.”

“We are not all monsters. I do what I have to, not what I want to.” The American scoffed slightly at the words. Not monsters? It was very hard to see them as anything else, not with how they were acting in this war.

“People who aren’t monsters don’t run places like this, they don’t kill millions. You’re all as bad as each other.” Reyna had spat back at the girl. The German pushed herself forward until she was knelt barely centimetres from the brunette’s face.

“If the choice was strangers or your family, Captain. Tell me… Would you do any differently?” The young American didn’t say anything as the girl hit the wall next to her head and pushed herself back to her feet. “You think the majority of the German population would be fighting this war if they didn’t have to? Nazi Germany gives you no other choice. Kill or be killed.”

“You’re telling me the state threatens everyone into service?”

“It’s a terror state Captain, it survives on fear… but no, not everyone, just enough people to prevent people from falling out of line.”

Reyna knew that Nazi Germany was not a pleasant place, but general consensus had always been in favour of following the dictatorship that ruled over them. Fear was a good motivator though, and if the Fuhrer had used it as an instrument for war then the Germans were highly unlikely to surrender this war.

An alarm sounded through a speaker above the desk and Reyna saw the Captain visibly tense.

“Do us both a favour American, pretend your still unconscious… You do not want to be noticed by the person that alarm is the signal for.” The brunette slouched against the wall as best she could, looking curiously at the German’s reaction.

“Why? Who is that the signal for?”

“Dr. Oskar Dirlewanger…” At the confusion that remained on the American’s face she added simply, “I’ll explain later, but you do not want to meet him. I hope you can act.”

Reyna wasn’t sure what that meant but she lay as still as she could and closed her eyes when she heard a knock at the door and boots strike the floor as someone walked in.

“Oberführer… Ich habe dich nicht erwartet.” (I wasn’t expecting you).

“Ich begleitete neue Gefangene hier. Dann hörte ich, dass du unseren ersten Amerikaner hattest… Ich wollte meine Hilfe anbieten für die verhör.” 

Oberfuhrer meant that this man was more senior than Captain Grazie, Reyna was acutely aware of that fact. The woman had not exactly seemed excited at the prospect of seeing the man again and, though Reyna didn’t recognise the name, she could assume it was only a bad thing when an SS Captain was afraid of someone. The American trying very hard to maintain a steady breathing rate so the man didn’t realise she was awake as he offered to help the young Captain get information from her.

“Ich kann es schaffen, danke Oberführer. Sie ist sowieso noch nicht wach.” (I can manage, thank you Oberfuhrer. She’s not awake anyway.)

Reyna was shocked, but relieved beyond belief that the SS Captain had kept her word to prevent her having to meet with the man. She hadn’t heard any words after that, just footsteps come further into the room, a vague muttering, and then the footsteps retreating. The door closing behind the man as he left.

“Verdammt verrückt mann.” The American blinked open her eyes as she heard the woman curse her superior.

Reyna’s mouth fell slightly agape when she took note of a long bleeding cut behind the girl’s left ear, but the German didn’t even seem to flinch at it as she turned quickly to meet the gaze of her American prisoner.

“He’s a psychopath, this is nothing.” Was the response she’d got from the girl to the unspoken question that hung over them.

“You’re afraid of him… Who is he?”

The German grimaced out a smirk in response, seating herself on the metal chair opposite the American as she held a hand to the cut before making to explain.

“I’m afraid of him because I am not stupid… Oskar Dirlewanger - leader of the SS penal unit ‘Dirlewanger’. His unit works like the Einsatzgruppen do, maximal casualties, and on top of that are the atrocities he’s known for alongside the killings… every single one of the worst crimes known to man, and in saner times he’d likely have been court martialed out of the army - but these are not sane times, and he gets Himmler’s dirty work done.” 

Reyna wasn’t sure how to respond to that - the Einsatzgruppen she knew, the elite SS death squad known for many mass killings across Europe, and if the Oberfuhrer was worse then the American was glad she’d avoided meeting the man.

“Thank you for getting me out of that then. I speak a little German, I know you stopped him - so thank you.” The words almost pained her to say to an SS soldier, but she was likely just saved from a worse fate than what she faced with the SS Captain.

“Don’t thank me yet, I still can’t get you out of the fact that the Fuhrer wants information… by any means necessary Captain.”

“I can’t betray my country Captain Grazie, I-”

“Then lie to me.” Reyna was slightly taken aback by the German’s words. “I need information to stick to Hitler’s orders, I have no way of knowing if what you tell me is true.”

“Why would you lie to the Fuhrer for some American you don’t know?”

“Because the Allies can end this… if the war ends then my family go free, and the darkness stops. Germany has had enough. I have had enough Captain. I’m not a monster, I want this to end.”


	3. The Terror State

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyna discovers the true extent of the concentration camps and the Nazi leaders that control them.  
> How many key figures played a role in this? And how deeply did the systematic conscription by threat run through the German forces?  
> Only the SS Captain keeping her hostage could answer any of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Nazis truth and Thalia's backstory.  
> Welcome to the depths of Nazi Germany - all people not from the PJO universe are described in historically accurate ways, including in the war crimes they committed (when those names are explored it may be uncomfortable to read some of it - warning just in case).  
> Hope you enjoy it though.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

The day had seemed to draw to a close quickly, and Reyna had ended up on the floor of the SS Captain’s barracks so the girl could make sure she didn’t try anything stupid. The floor had been horribly cold, especially for a European spring, and the American hadn’t slept well - not until halfway through the night when she had felt a slight weight placed over her that helped to keep out the cold. When she’d blinked her eyes open to see what was happening, nothing in the room seemed out of place - the German turned over to face away from her on the bed nearby but that was the only movement in the room. Reyna made to pull the makeshift blanket further over herself and only then noticed what it was that was covering her - the SS badge on the shoulder of what appeared to be a coat draping over her, and she might have cared but it was warm and she needed to sleep so caring was for the morning.

“Captain Ramirez, come on I need you to wake up.” Reyna woke to the German voice in the early hours of the morning, sunlight barely starting to peer through the window.

The American blinked herself awake and the other girl offered her a hand to help her stand, the coat falling from her shoulders as she got up (hands still loosely chained together). The SS Captain made to pick it up and placed in back over the woman’s shoulders when a shiver ran across her body.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re cold, I was trying to help.” The American shared a smile with the girl as she led her out of the room and back through the dank corridors of the SS base within the camp. It was definitely a dark place, Sobibor, though so far she had no idea of what actually went on here… she’d only been in the SS base, kept away from the main workings of the camp, though that didn’t mean she hadn’t heard the sounds of the other prisoners here through the night - footsteps, banging, screams.

None of the western allies really knew what was happening in Germany, they only knew about what happened on the frontline - it couldn’t be good but they didn’t know. Anyone they’d managed to capture never talked either, they were killed by their captors or by biting down on a cyanide capsule before they ever gave them anything.

When they were safely back in the confines of the German’s office, Reyna made to ask her something.

“All the soldiers we’ve ever captured from you have died before telling us anything, if you all want this to end then why don’t more people help us?”

“It’s not that easy…” The Captain muttered quietly, “That soldier that was with you, Gertsdorff, his family was killed a few hours later because he betrayed the fatherland. A wife and a young daughter. We would all rather die, than risk our loved ones lives.”

“Cyanide is still a drastic way out, you couldn’t just tell us that?”

The soldier shook her head in response.

“We speak to anyone outside of Germany, our families die. Cyanide is our way out - when you’re conscripted into the SS they remove a tooth and replace it with a cyanide capsule. Contingency plan for prisoners of war.”

Reyna was sure her mouth had fallen slightly agape, she knew the majority of German officers refused to talk and would rather die than tell the Allies anything - however, she didn’t know that cyanide capsules were compulsory for anyone that knew anything important.

“That’s barbaric.”

“It’s a terror state, Captain Ramirez. What do you expect?”

The American paused to consider that for a moment, realising that she hadn’t really expected anything. Everyone assumed Germany was acting as a whole, and it never seemed to click that they had ordinary people suffering from the war efforts too.

“I don’t think anyone outside of Germany would know what to expect.”

“No… Hier ist eine dumme Idee… Come on, I want to show you something.”

Reyna had frowned at the girl, a stupid idea was showing her something? She didn’t know what that meant, but she figured she wasn’t really in a position to deny the request.

“Where are we going?” The SS Captain pulled her coat away from the American as they headed towards the door.

“I’m going to show you what to expect from the fatherland.”

The American wasn’t sure what to expect when she had followed the young German through the camp, but the true horror of Sobibor had been so greatly understated in the west that Reyna hadn’t even been close to prepared to experience it all first hand.

Barbed wire fencing separated prison blocks that filled the vast expanse of land that made up the camp.

Different blocks were filled with different kinds of prisoners - around half of the prisoners were Jewish, a quarter of them were homosexuals, and the other quarter were political prisoners. All of them looked malnourished, beaten, and like they were in all sorts of other pain.

“Kapitän Grazie, ist das der Amerikaner?” (Is that the American?)

“Ja. Ich werde ihr zeigen, was passiert, wenn die Leute nicht reden.” (Yes. I’ll show her what happens when people don’t talk.)

Reyna knew the girl was having to be the firm SS Captain in front of the other guards, but seeing how easily the German fell into the persona made the young American nervous.

She had hated the idea of Sobibor when she thought it was a forced labour camp, and a prison camp… she didn’t know the full extent, that these concentration camps were less about imprisonment and more about torture and killing. When screams had echoed across the camp she’d questioned it - Captain Grazie had cast her gaze to the floor, clenching her jaw as if it would keep out the sounds.

“That is what Zyklon-B does to people… Welcome to the frontline of the Fuhrer’s holocaust.”

“Holocaust… Captain Grazie, are you saying that Germany is carrying out genocide?!” The American’s whisper was harsh and the soldier had pulled her into a smaller alleyway to ensure no-one heard them speaking.

“Yes. Okay, Captain? Yes… This is categorical genocide, Hitler’s final solution provided and carried out by Himmler and previously Heydrich.”

Those were very big names the SS Captain was implicating in the holocaust. Himmler was the Reichsführer of Germany’s military and police, and Heydrich was chief of the Reich main security office - Heydrich however, had been assassinated in Prague, 1942. At the very least they had rid the world of one of the genocidal maniacs that were running the German war efforts.

“Are they the ones forcing soldiers to fight too?” The German nodded.

“Yes... I will explain, but not here it is too open.”

Eventually the woman had led Reyna back to the barracks, after they’d spent the day touring the horrors of Sobibor. It took a lot out of you to be exposed to so much suffering, even if you weren’t physically going through it then emotionally it still had an effect. 

The American had sat against the floor to one side of the room and was sure even the cold wouldn’t prevent her mind from shutting off tonight. Though it turned out that she wouldn’t have to worry about that.

“Scheiß drauf.”

Reyna looked up from where she leant on a wall as the Captain walked towards her - the black SS uniform gone as she dressed down, ready to sleep off the day too. The American’s jaw dropped as the girl unlocked the chains on her wrists and placed them on a table off to one side.

“Take the bed, I’ll use a spare blanket.”

The girl was stunned as she made her way to lie in the comfort of a real bed, the German smiling as she made to grab her things from a drawer.

“Goodnight, Captain Ramirez.” Reyna made to grab the girl’s hand as she walked past her.

“You can stay, if you trust me not to kill you. I mean it’s not like there isn’t enough room.”

The SS Captain was clearly shocked by the woman’s actions, but made her way to lie on the other side of the bed all the same.

“You best not kill me in my sleep American.” 

“I won’t, I promise… Oh, and it’s Reyna by the way.” The German smiled at her in response, holding a hand out for her to shake.

“Thalia. It’s a pleasure to meet you, despite the circumstances.”

“You too… erm, you said you’d explain later. About the forced conscriptions.”

The German- Thalia, nodded carefully as she locked eyes with Reyna.

“They were responsible, to carry out genocide you need a lot of manpower. They directly employed the most ruthless killers into the highest positions, and had a tendency to blackmail those filling in below them. Friedrich Jeckeln leads the most sinister of the Einsatzgruppen - that squad has over 100,000 kills to their name, Ernst Kaltenbrunner took over of chief of security when Heydrich died - he is a lesser tyrant than Heydrich but a tyrant nonetheless, Josef Kramer is Commandant of the Bergen-Belsen camp - within Auschwitz he is known for terrorising his prisoners, Franz Stangl was one of the other Commandants here and at Treblinka - he has since killed thousands as part of the Euthanasia program, Joseph Goebbels is Hitler’s promoter for the war - arguably initiated the final solution, Ilse Koch is sadistically cruel to her inmates at Buchenwald - she possesses no remorse, Oskar Dirlewanger too, and arguably the worst is Dr. Joseph Mengele - he experiments on people and he tortures them and he decides when they die…”

The American had heard most of the names from reports about the war, but she’d never before been able to associate them with such crimes as the Captain was talking about.

“Did they recruit you?” Thalia nodded once.

“Himmler and Koch plucked me straight from the Hitler Youth. My father fought in world war one, but he helped to agree the amnesty and Hitler never liked him - in fact when the night of the long knives came he had my mother killed to prove a point to my father. He survived but he’s been in a wheelchair since. They wanted me or my brother - I volunteered to protect them. Helped my brother escape to your country with his girlfriend and a new identity, I couldn’t get my father out though - so I fight because they’ll torture and kill him if I don’t. They’ll hunt down my brother. That’s what they have on me.”

Reyna didn’t know what she’d expected the German to tell her, but it wasn’t this. This tale of widespread terror and government threats to keep their people playing along with this like they weren’t committing genocide, this list of the highest officials in the regime, this truth about the Captain herself. People would do anything for their family at the best of times… so at the worst, it wasn’t hard to imagine the lengths people may have to go to to protect them.


	4. Saving Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyna gets closer to the SS Captain and starts thinking of life back home again.  
> But today was not going to be their usual office day.  
> German interruptions and the horrors of war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay I have a ban on how much I can type due to RSI (sad times).  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, let me know what you think.

It had been a few weeks by now, since the German had told Reyna her story, and the American had once again woken up curled against Thalia. She’d stopped flinching away from how they often woke up a few days after it had first happened, after all the extra warmth was always welcome and the German was surprisingly comfy so Reyna didn’t find she minded so much.

“Thalia, wake up.” All she got in response was a sleepy groan as the girl turned her head away from Reyna. “Come on, as comfy as I am, people will start to notice if you don’t make an appearance soon.”

“Verpiss dich.” 

“Rude…” The American saw the smirk tug at Thalia’s lips at her response to being cursed at.

“Then next time, let me sleep.” Reyna had to strain to make out the thickly accented words, the sleepiness in Thalia’s voice not helping much. But the German didn’t move still, so Rey laughed as she whispered a ‘no’ to the girl, shoving hard to get her out of the bed. 

Blue eyes looked up at her in discontent from the edge of the bed that her head peered over.

“Sometimes you make it difficult to remember why I didn’t kill you before.” Thalia muttered as she pushed herself back to her feet and stretched. “Alright, let’s go.”

Reyna laughed slightly as they both moved to get changed, Thalia managing to get her revenge whilst they did. The American had been trying to pull her trousers over her feet, and the German soldier had decided to nudge into her as she walked towards the desk to one side of the room - which had embarrassingly sent Reyna sprawling across the floor.   
Something she was sure would eventually result in her having bruised her arms and possibly her head.

“Well, if I bruise up from that at least you’ll look like you’ve done your job.” She stated bitterly when the other girl had just laughed at her.

“You’re fine, come on. People will start to notice my absence.”

Reyna rolled her eyes as she got up and finished getting changed before allowing the German to place the handcuffs back on her for the day. They walked easily back to the Captain’s office, Reyna knowing the way as well as Thalia herself at this point.

“Do you know what the date is?” The American asked rather randomly whilst Thalia was filling out some paperwork.

“April 17th, why?” 

The German turned to face the woman when she didn’t respond immediately, Reyna looking up to meet the questioning gaze before she sighed and answered.

“It’s my sister’s birthday soon. I don’t even know if she knows where I am.”

“She does… or at least the Allied army does, we’ve had pleas to let you go.” Reyna looked up at the girl, she hadn’t told her that. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to get your hopes up. They know we have you they don’t know where.”

“At least they know. They’ll find me at some point.” Thalia smiled slightly at the girl’s optimism at the situation. Truth be told, the SS Captain didn’t know how long she could protect her for… The American looked confusedly at the woman as she held out a pen and paper for her. 

“Write to her, your sister. I’ll do my best to deliver it, but she can’t reply.”

“Thank you.” The girl responded simply as she took the supplies and lay against the floor to write.

Thalia left her to it as she returned to her paperwork for a few hours, every so often hearing paper crumbled and thrown away as the American tried to figure out what to say to her family back in the Allied trenches. A siren sounded not long later and Thalia pushed herself out of the chair.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing. Stay here, I’ll go and find out what’s going on.” The German looked hesitant as she walked to the door, briefly checking back on Reyna before she pushed herself out of the door.

Reyna had no idea what was happening. All she could do was wait, and she hated having to wait. So she kept her head down and focused on the letter she was trying to write to her sister, which was just as difficult - how do you explain this kind of situation to someone?

Like: ‘Hey sis I’m fine, the Germans have me in the most notorious concentration camp in Europe. Don’t worry though, one of them is nice and she’s trying to help me, she’s also really cute, but hey happy birthday. Enjoy the day, hope you’re alive, I’ll try to stay that way too.’

It didn’t exactly read like something that would instill a great deal of confidence. Her sister was actually more likely to read something vaguely written like that and think she should break into every camp in Germany to find her baby sister. Hylla was protective like that, despite the fact that she knew full well that Reyna could take care of herself. The girl huffed in annoyance and crumpled the piece of paper as she threw it into the small bin by Thalia’s desk.

She heard footsteps and what sounded like German murmured from the other side of the door then, and Reyna looked up waiting for Thalia to enter as she gestured at the paper in front of her with the pen.

“Hey, what do you think I should wr- oh shit.”

That was not Thalia.

A male soldier had unlocked the door and pushed through. Eyes blown wide as he looked at the comfortable way Reyna was propped up on the floor, pen and paper in hand.

“Wie hast du das bekommen?! Steh auf Dieb! Hände, wo ich sie sehen kann.” (How did you get that?! Get up thief! Hands where I can see them.)

Reyna did as she was told, swallowing the lump forming in her throat as she stood - holding her hands out in front of her.

“Es tut mir Leid… Ich habe aber nichts gestohlen. Ich schwöre.” (I’m sorry… I didn’t steal anything. I swear.) Reyna replied, her German stuttering as she tried to remember her words.

The man seemed to ignore her as he walked towards her, gun held tightly in his right hand. Reyna didn’t know what to do - she could end up getting both herself and Thalia into a lot of trouble if she let this man leave and get someone that was the Captain’s superior too.

He looked at her with a detest she had almost forgotten that most held for her in this place, Reyna knew what she needed to do - but knowing didn’t make it any easier to do.

“Sorry mate, but it’s me or you.” 

The American pushed her hands out until they collided heavily with the soldier’s right hand, sending the gun flying across the room. Reyna kicked out the back of his knees to bring him to the floor and managed to get her handcuffs over his head, moving so the chain pressed against his throat as she pulled hard. The man choked as he clawed against Reyna’s arms but she kept her hold until she felt him go limp against her restraints. She held him up still though, shocked as she stared dead ahead at the wall in front of her. She’d killed plenty of people in this war, she knew that, but she’d never had to do so with her bare hands. It felt so much worse.

The American was hardly aware of the sound of footsteps running down the corridor, hardly aware of the thud of the door as it was all but thrown shut. Not until a hand pulled her arms away from the soldier, and a pair of arms wrapped around her middle as she was pulled backwards and placed onto the metal chair by the desk. Blue eyes looked up at her worriedly, and she could see the girl was talking but it still took her a few moments to focus back in on the sound of her voice.

“-Reyna? What happened?”

“He came through the door, he could have reported back that you weren’t doing your job… They would have killed us both, I just wanted to stop him… I- he’s dead.” Thalia took hold of her hands and forced Reyna’s gaze back to hers.

“You did what you had to, it’s okay I understand. Are you okay?” The American nodded, ignoring the throbbing pain from the scratches on her arms as she did so.

“Who was he?”

“Franz Reichleitner… he was who I went looking for. He’s one of the camp commanders Rey.”


	5. Guilty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the fallout from the death of a senior Nazi figure ensues, how much will the backlash reach the American prisoner of war?  
> And how much can Thalia really help the Captain when her superiors want to step in?  
> The response to murder is harsh in the US, never mind in Nazi Germany, but luckily for Reyna she knew things that the Fuhrer wanted to know and that gave her an advantage that might at least keep her alive for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fallout from a murder, and how far the SS Captain's power can really stretch.  
> Well no-one said keeping a US soldier out of trouble would be easy.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think

“Oh God… He was your superior officer?! What are we gonna do?!” Reyna was desperate, that much was evident in her voice, but Thalia could offer her no comfort nor any help to the predicament.

“We do nothing Rey… Verdammt. I can’t get you out of this one.”

“What’re they going to do to me?” Thalia glanced back to the doorway as footsteps rang against the floor. She didn’t answer the other girl right away, she had to make this look like she’d escaped to   
do this to Reichleitner - Thalia moved fast, kicking down on the radiator pipeline until it broke and she turned back to the American.

“I don’t know, I report back and wait for orders… Right now, all I can do is stop the men down that corridor from putting a bullet in you. But Rey, I am sorry about this.” 

Reyna never got a chance to respond as the German hit her over the head, catching her temple and knocking her for six - not quite unconscious but she was drifting towards it when she heard German words echo against the walls as she lay on the floor. Thalia scrambling to explain in a harsh tone that the American had escaped and the Commander must have found her when she did. She lost the battle to stay conscious then, and when she next came to she was lying on a hard mat on the floor of a large room - a few other people were still sat in the room that she could see, also on small mats that were less than comfortable on the stone floor.

Reyna winced at the pain shooting against her temple as she tried to sit up and a woman, a little older than her crouched next to her when she saw the reaction.

“Bist du in Ordnung?” (Are you alright?)

Reyna nodded and managed to sit up properly; she was still in her military uniform as far as she could tell, but a couple of badges had been stitched onto it whilst she was out. A red triangle (pointed upwards) was on the right side of her chest, a red upside-down triangle below it with an ‘A’ in the middle of it, a white stripe with the number 157203 written across it, she also had one more under the American flag on her arm of a black ring with a red circle in the middle of it - she had no idea what any of them meant but she expected they weren’t good. The woman offered her a sympathetic smile as she saw what the girl was looking at.

“Die Abzeichen sollen dich klassifizieren.” (The badges are supposed to classify you.)

“Was sagen sie über mich?” (What do they say about me?) Reyna replied shakily as she met the woman’s eyes. She sat down next to her and started pointing to each badge in turn - Red triangle meant   
Prisoner of War, inverted triangle with an ‘A’ mean American, the number was her inmate number, and the circles indicated that she was an escape suspect.

The woman then explained her own, pointing out a pink inverted triangle over a yellow triangle to create a star and a pink stripe went over the top of the star - the star meant she was Jewish, and the pink that she was also a homosexual, apparently the stripe proved that she was a repeat offender of her ‘crimes’ too. Reyna was suddenly very grateful that she hadn’t had more badges pinned on her chest, it appeared that they could’ve at least added the pink if Thalia had figured out that she was gay too or if she’d told the guards…

“Amerikaner!” 

Reyna’s gaze was forced towards one of the open ends of the room as one of the soldiers yelled across to her. The woman she was with scrambled back to her own ‘bed’ as the man strode across the room, four others following on his tail.

“Der Kapitän möchte ein Wort, Mörder.” (The Captain would like a word, murderer.)

They signalled Reyna to her feet and the American really wasn’t in any position to argue so she did as she was asked, following the men into a nearby building. She was handcuffed to a bar on the underside of the table in the middle of a dark room, the only light being directly above her.

A door creaked open and footsteps rang out against the floor until the German Captain’s face came into view. Her normally spiked hair had fallen over her eyes and the blue of those eyes had lost most of the spark that had previously been there. 

Then she noticed it, the bruising and slight swelling under her eyes, and the cut on the bridge of her nose.

“Are y-”

“No, I ask the questions not you okay?” Reyna made to question the harsh tone but she stopped when Thalia clenched her jaw and tilted her head slightly to the left, the American noticing only then the small camera in the corner of the room. This wasn’t the time or place for her to try and be kind, she had to be tactical about this… This was a murder trial.

“Okay.”

“Do you know why you’re here?”

“I’m a prisoner of war Captain, that’s why.” Reyna could see the smirk Thalia was trying to keep hidden from the camera at the response.

“No Ramírez, you are here to stand accused of the murder of Commander Reichleitner. How do you plead?”

“Guilty.”

She saw the apology in Thalia’s eyes at the situation they found themselves in, but Reyna had been trained by the US Army all her life and she’d be damned if she didn’t know how to handle herself against inescapable odds.

The SS Captain moved a hand to her ear briefly before letting it fall back against the file resting on the table, the move allowing the American to see an earpiece hooked over her ear. She didn’t know who she was listening to, but she could assume she wouldn’t like the answer.

“Did you do so to try and escape the camp?”

“No Captain.” Thalia nodded and threw the open file across the table so Reyna could see the image of the dead Commander inside it. The American clenched her jaw, passing a glance at the image but nothing more as she looked back at the German.

“Then tell me… Why did you break free and kill him?”

Reyna knew her way around a good lie by this point in her life, and she knew how to deliver one. 

“He was threatening me with far worse than torture, I didn’t kill him to escape - I would just rather face your torture than his Captain. You can tell the cameraman the same thing too.”

Thalia threw her a wink as her superior’s voice echoed through her earpiece, clearly angry but the SS Captain knew that he wouldn’t order her to kill the American. He couldn’t. They still needed the information she had.

“Bring sie hier raus.” (Get her out of here.) The voice yelled to her and Thalia wasn’t about to argue.

She stood and adjusted the American’s handcuffs so she could walk her out of the interrogation room. They marched at a relatively quick pace until Thalia knew they were out of sight of the cameras and she pulled her to one side.

“Are you okay Reyna? I’m sorry I hit you so hard, I didn’t mean to leave a mark.”

“I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt that much. What happened to you?!” Thalia shrugged slightly at the question and Reyna caught her by the shoulder as she tried to turn away and ignore the question.

“I- Nazi officials don’t tend to respond kindly when one of their own is killed on your watch. This is nothing… Normally you wouldn’t have seen me again.”

Reyna figured that wasn’t unlikely in the climate of Nazi Germany - that not even the SS were safe from the Nazi’s wrath. 

“What’re they going to do to me Thalia?”

“Nothing. They won’t kill you whilst they still need information, they’ll just have my head if I don’t start getting results. You’ll be fine - they just want you to suffer for what happened so I can’t get you out of the camp for now. I’ll get you out once a day, I know it’ll never be enough but it’s all I can do, if anyone finds out again we can’t guarantee that they won’t be able to report back to the Fuhrer. I’m sorry. You know if I could keep you safe I would…” Reyna put a hand to the woman’s mouth to stop her from rambling on.

“I know Thalia…”

Reyna checked their surroundings briefly before placing a kiss against the German’s cheek and smiling at the blush that tinged her cheeks red.

“What was that for?”

“A thank you, for keeping me alive… I know I’m not making it easy.” Thalia laughed slightly, rolling her eyes as she replied simply.

“No kidding Captain. Come on, before one of us is missed.”

The German led Reyna back through the camp; and despite her attempts to hide it from her, Reyna could see the blush refusing to fade from her cheeks and had to try very hard to keep her proud grin hidden from the other Nazi guards as she returned to her bunk. She’d collapsed easily against the hard ‘bed’ and she saw the girl that was her neighbour quirk an eyebrow at her when she let a small smile creep across her face.

“Welche Art von Person genießt eine Befragung?” (What kind of person enjoys an interrogation?) She had muttered under her breath as she watched the strange American curiously.


	6. Chamber 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia and Reyna were forced to settle into this new routine of interrogation and barely seeing each other, ever since the death of Reichlietner.  
> But they made it work, hell they even managed to continue to build their new relationship, despite the circumstances.  
> Sobibor wasn't a place where happiness lasted very long though.  
> Eventually something was bound to go wrong...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theyna develop their relationship, but will it be ale to last.  
> Nazi Germany and young love weren't exactly a good match.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

The days had continued on in a similar fashion for weeks. Reyna spent hers days and nights in cell block F amongst the other prisoners of Sobibor, getting only an hour or two out when the Captain pulled her out for questioning. Thalia was good, she’d asked questions that allowed Reyna to leave her answers vague, only occasionally did she give any information to the German but it was never truthful.

Reyna knew the Captain’s superiors would start to get annoyed with her soon and were likely to start forcing Thalia to use other means of extracting information that possessed some truth.

Thalia had never seriously hurt her, she’d hit her a few times to keep up pretences but an apology was always evident in her eyes. To which the American would always smile and let a German curse tumble from her lips. 

She was waiting for one of those sessions again any minute - she was sat with the Jewish woman that she’d gotten fairly friendly with (Gwen). The American tracing the folded lines of a note she kept in her jacket.

“Ich kann immer noch nicht glauben, dass Sie auf Kapitan Grazie hereinfallen.” (I still can’t believe you are falling for Captain Grazie.) The girl muttered as she nudged against her shoulder. 

Reyna smirked at the comment. It was a ridiculous situation she found herself in, she knew that, but the German had saved her more times than she cared to admit and they’d shared things with each other that no-one else knew. Thalia had tried to maintain as much professionalism with Reyna as she could, but they always found at least a few moments to talk away from the guards or cameras.

It had been a few days after the first interview when the SS Captain had first caught Reyna completely off guard. They’d walked away from the room, the American sporting a cut to her cheek from a particularly stinging hit, and Thalia had pulled her into their little alleyway that was out of the view of the guard patrols.

“Are you okay Rey? Sorry about the cut.”

“It’s fine, it was a good hit. Did kinda hurt though.” Reyna shrugged, not caring too much but it had been more painful than she’d expected from the other girl.

“I’m still sorry… Though I know how to make it better.” The American quirked an eyebrow at the girl a the heavily accented words registered with her. 

The SS Captain, tilting her head, moved to place a soft kiss over the cut. The action leaving Reyna blinking in surprise as she reached for the area that actually did appear to be stinging less.

“See? All better.” The girl muttered, smirking at the blush colouring Reyna’s cheeks as she led her back towards the cell block. 

Since then they’d also been swapping notes when they could - Thalia equipping Reyna with the charcoal and paper she used to respond with. That was what she was clutching so tightly in her hands now, one of the notes from Thalia. It read:

“Ich bin bei dir, du seist auch noch so ferne. Ich werde dich beschützen, was auch immer passiert. Ich werde dich lieben, egal wie dumm das auch sein mag. Bleib in Sicherheit, Schatz.”

(I am with you, however far you may be. I will protect you, whatever happens. I will love you, no matter how foolish that may be. Stay safe, my dear.)

Reyna hadn’t let the note leave her person since she’d gotten it. Sure they’d flirted often, and they’d even shared a brief kiss if they got the chance, and Reyna knew she had been falling for the   
German for a while… but this was the first time that Thalia had ever said it, and she’d be damned if she was going to lose that moment.

It had been about three weeks ago when they’d first kissed, several days after the day Thalia caught her off guard. They’d managed to get out during guard rotation and so had longer in their   
alleyway. Thalia had whispered more apologies for what she was having to do, and kept asking if she was okay - the German’s hands resting on her shoulders as she scanned the American to make sure she really was okay. Reyna had heard her ramble enough to know that she needed physically stopping or she’d go on like this for a while. So Rey had checked their surroundings and when Thalia paused momentarily, she grabbed the girl by the lapels of the jacket and pulled her down to meet her lips.

Thalia had been stunned for a moment but when her brain finally caught up to what was happening, she’d managed to walk the American backwards so she was pressed against the wall, as she returned the kiss with fervour.

Reyna had sat in her bunk that evening trying to quell the seemingly permanent red tinge of her cheeks, and the grin that shouldn’t have covered her face the way it did given her situation. The memory was still fresh even these many weeks later, though Thalia had helped rejog the memory fairly frequently since it happened anyway, so it wasn’t as if Reyna could forget the feeling.

She’d yet to pen her own note back, having to wait for the guards to disappear - but today they didn’t seem quite so eager to do so.

She was talking to Gwen when she realised that there was something seriously wrong about today, but she’d realised to late. Two guards had pulled Gwen away from her and moved back to stand over the brunette who had only managed to scramble back against the metal wall of the bunks.

“Der Kapitän hat eine Schwäche für Sie Amerikaner.” (The Captain has a soft spot for you, American.) One man practically spat at her as they both moved towards her with batons of some description.   
“Es ist mir egal, was du weißt. Ich will nur wissen, ob du so hart bist wie du denkst.” (I don’t care what you know. I just want to know if you’re as tough as you think.)

Reyna’s ears rang as the other man’s baton collided heavily with her head, she held a hand to the area and pulled it away to see the blood there. Then the man that spoke had swung at her ribs as she was hunched over on the floor, and Reyna heard them crack as much as she felt it. She wasn’t sure how long the beating went on for… All she was registering was the pain, and the amount of blood she could see dripping from her face and arms and ribs. God it hurt. The pain was stabbing at every part of her like knives, and then they’d stopped and just hauled her to her feet.

It took her a few moments to regain her balance, with Gwen’s help, and then her ears managed to focus in on a new sound. A long, ringing siren.

“Was ist los?” (What is happening?) She managed to mutter to her new friend.

“Nichts Liebling, mach dir keine Sorgen. ich habe dich.” (Nothing darling, don’t worry. I’ve got you.)

Reyna wasn’t comforted. The woman’s voice trembled with fear as they were led in a line to a large building at the back of the camp, smoke billowing threateningly from the top of it. She hadn’t seen this place before, or at least her pain filled brain couldn’t recognise it…

“Verwerfen Sie alle Kleidungsstücke. Gehe zu dem Raum auf der Rückseite.” (Discard all clothing. Make your way to the room at the back.)

Reyna shared a nervous glance with Gwen but they all started doing as they were told. She didn’t know what was happening, but she could tell that the other girl did. They’d been told to leave everything behind, but Reyna had to keep one thing with her if nothing else - Thalia’s note, remained clutched in her hands as she looked around the dark and grimly lit room they’d started to be herded into.

…

Thalia burst out into the main courtyard of the camp. They were late. 

Reyna had been scheduled to be in the interrogation room almost 15 minutes ago, and this was not the day to be late. 

The Captain walked with purposeful strides past each cell block until she reached F.

Empty.

It can’t have been empty.

Thalia could see the two men she’d sent to fetch Reyna stood against the fence that separated the cell blocks from the death camp behind them. The German strode over to them as they were sharing a joke, her jaw clenched and fingernails digging into her palms as she brought their fearful gazes onto her.

“Wo ist sie?” (Where is she?) The Captain had growled in question, voice shaking with anger. 

One of the men pointed through the gates behind them and towards Chamber 6. Thalia let out a long breath, and shoved the man hard against the metal fence. A bloodied baton falling to the ground as she did so, the Captain looking between it and the man who wielded it.

“Waren meine Anweisungen nicht klar?” (Were my instructions not clear?) The guard visibly gulped as his Captain’s temper began to flair. A fire behind her eyes, the likes of which he’d never seen before. “Sie werden beide dem Erschießungskommando gegenübertreten, wenn sie dort stirbt.” (You will both face the firing squad, if she dies in there.)

Thalia shoved the man hard and when he collided with the metal fence, he fell onto the ground. Both of them scampering away as the woman looked desperately towards Chamber 6 - this couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t lose her, especially not like this.

She ran. 

Thalia was sure she had never ran so fast in her entire life, she was always calm in the face of anything… but this had her panicking more than she cared to admit.

She had to run. Faster than anyone ever had before. She was already behind and Bauer worked quickly. 

She couldn’t lose her… 

Not like this.


	7. Unbroken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia has to race to save Reyna from a fate she would wish upon no-one. Chamber 6.  
> But even if she does get there in time, there's no telling how long she can keep her out of harms way after that.  
> Berlin is becoming impatient. They need results. So they send the Iron Heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reyna keeps making Thalia's attempts at keeping her alive difficult, and Thalia has to keep showing parts of her darker side.  
> Love and Nazi Germany don't really mix well.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

“Nein! Bauer halt!” The Sargeant looked over to his Captain as she burst through the door. He had been stood by the chamber’s controls, safely out of reach of the inmates that were still scattered between this room and the other one.

All eyes fell onto the SS Captain, most of the inmates nervously stepping away from the woman, though some looked curiously at her actions.

Thalia turned to find the soldiers tasked with escorting inmates to the chambers and said simply.

“Lass sie zurückgehen. Nimm stattdessen F2.” (Let them go back. Take F2 instead.)

The young guard, Bree, had looked at the woman as if she’d grown two heads.

“Kapitan?” 

“Zwei Ihrer Kameraden sind entweder inkompetent oder ungehorsam.” (Two of your comrades are either incompetent or insubordinate.) Thalia spat at the man, searching the room but drawing up short when she tried to find the American amongst the crowd. “Der Amerikaner ist hier, Max.” (The American is here, Max.)

The man sighed in frustration and turned to bark the orders to his men to lead them back to F block, and to the inmates to tell them to change and get out.

Thalia making her way through the crowds, pushing other inmates out of the way as she searched the room. Unable to find her, she made her way through the crowds leaving the chamber at the back of the building, assuming that would be the only place left for her to be. As the German managed to get into the room, she was still unable to make out the shape of the American amongst the other inmates - and it was then that Thalia became acutely aware of the fact that everyone within this room had been forced to remove their clothing.

It was standard procedure of course, and Thalia had known what happened here since she’d been assigned to the post, but she’d never been in the room with them before. Naturally the first time she was had to be when the woman she’d fallen for was in the room, the thought bringing a red tinge to Thalia’s cheeks.

She shook it off though and kept walking until she was far enough into the room that the guards outside wouldn’t hear her.

“Reyna!” The German whisper-yelled into the space, calling again when she received no response.

“Thalia?” 

The Captain let out a sigh of relief as she heard the American accent from further into the room. She pushed towards the voice, managing to squeeze through the few people between her and the girl at the back of the room.

“Oh God, Rey. Are you okay?” Thalia ran the last few feet to the woman, pulling the jacket from her shoulders to wrap it around the American. Though the action didn’t stop her from noticing the large amount of bruising on the woman’s ribs, and the cuts that were still bleeding on her face. 

Reyna grabbed the German’s hand as she made to trace the blood lines on her face.

“I’m fine, what’s happening? Why are you here?” Thalia just smiled, pulling her coat more tightly around the shivering body of the girl. It didn’t stop the shivers though and the German realised then that the shivers were from fear more than the cold.

“What, you thought I was just going to leave you here?” Thalia pulled the woman’s chin up until she could meet her gaze again. “Never, I promise. Now come on, let’s get you out of here.”

The German led Reyna back into the other room, going to wait outside whilst she changed back into her own uniform and watching the rest of the inmates be led back to their cell block. The American eventually appeared by Thalia’s side again, whispering a thank you as she looked up at the German.

“Are you going to tell me what happened to you? The injuries aren’t exactly well hidden you know.”

“I imagine they would’ve been if you hadn’t arrived.” Thalia glanced nervously at the building behind them, knowing just how close they’d come to that being true.

“Did they purposefully send you here? The two soldiers that arrived early.”

“Yes… though not before they got a few good hits in.” Reyna’s tone was bitter and harsh as she eyed the two men being led towards them by another officer she didn’t recognise.

“They did that to you?” The American nodded, turning to see the German set her jaw, a fury set ablaze behind her eyes as the two soldier were forced to stand in front of them both.

“Kapitan.” As one man tried to speak the guard behind him clattered the butt of a gun against his head.

“Du hast das getan.” (You did that.) 

The Captain’s words were more a statement than a question, and Reyna saw the men visibly start to cower away from the woman as they nodded in response.

“Weißt du, was die Bestrafung für Ungehorsam ist?” (Do you know what the punishment for insubordination is?)

Both men nodded, one staring at the floor as if trying not to show weakness, the other practically pleading for forgiveness from the SS Captain. Reyna knew, in one look, that he wasn’t going to find mercy from the woman today.

“Bringt sie zu Korporal Bredow und sagt ihm, er soll sie zum Erschießungskommando schicken.” (Take them to Corporal Bredow and tell him to send them to the firing squad.)

Reyna had known the German was likely to be harsh in her punishment of the men, but whatever she’d expected it hadn’t been that. The American watched them get led away before turning to speak to Thalia.

“Insubordination is punishable by death?”

“Depends what order they ignored, in this case yes it is. I had permission from the Reichsfuhrer to do that.” Thalia didn’t seem to show any sign of hesitation at the act, however, Reyna knew that was likely because of what those men had done to her first.

The American knew how close she’d been to death. Between those soldiers wanting to beat her to death, and them wanting to send her to Chamber 6, she was very lucky to still be breathing.

Reyna noticed the German glance over at her and then saw the smile and slight blush spread across her face.

“What?” She’d asked curiously.

“You still have the note I gave you.” Reyna realised at Thalia’s murmured words, that the folded paper was still clutched between her fingers - and the woman smiled as she remembered what it said.

“Of course I do. It’s not a message I want to forget in a hurry.”

“My cheesy German pick up line worked then?” Reyna chuckled lightly at the question, the two of them walking back towards the building they spent most of their time together in nowadays.

“Meine Geliebte, coming from you it will always work.” Thalia blushed slightly as she held the door open for the American who pushed herself onto her tiptoes as she walked past the Captain to   
whisper “I love you too by the way” into the shell of her ear.

It took every ounce of self control that Thalia possessed not to kiss the other woman right then and there, unfortunately this was not exactly the place for it. So she continued to lead the woman into the interrogation room, only to find that someone was already stood in there.

The man was relatively small in stature, standing at roughly 5’7” and being built not unlike a weasel. He was scrawny, but the way he held himself signified that at the very least, he thought he was important. His face didn’t have the harsh lines of most Germans, it was softer set, but on him it somehow appeared more threatening - the beady eyes hidden behind small glasses, were not unlike those of shark’s when they smelled blood in the water. He had several medals pinned on his chest, and wore the Nazi armband more proudly than his Captain did, the SS badge on his shoulder indicating that this man probably was important… and if that wasn’t enough of a hint, then the way Thalia tensed up beside her definitely was.

“Reichsführer, was machst du hier?” (Reichsfuhrer, what are you doing here?)

Reyna felt her heart drop like a stone at Thalia’s way of greeting the weasel… Reichsfuhrer.

This was ‘the man with the iron heart’ - a nickname given to him by Hitler.

This was the man behind the genocide and terror taking place in Nazi Germany.

Heinrich Himmler.


	8. Das Töten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia had asked for any kind of information, the problem was, eventually the Nazi leaders would start to notice that they were being lied to.  
> When they assume Thalia isn't doing her job properly, the Fuhrer elects to remind her of a promise he made to her should she ever decide to refuse direct orders...  
> Where will those lies and that promise leave the two Captains?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Himmler shows why he earned the nickname of 'the man with the iron heart'.  
> Reyna learns how serious any threats made in Nazi Germany really are.  
> And they are going to have to try and find a new way out of this, when Thalia is removed from the interrogation team.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

“Come on Captain, it’s only fair we speak in the tongue of our guest is it not?” The man’s English was stronger than Thalia’s, his accent distorting the words a lot less. His voice was slightly higher pitched than Reyna expected, but it didn’t make him any less intimidating.

“Oh please, you don’t have to on my account-” The American started to respond, but didn’t get to the fact that she didn’t need him to speak English as the SS Captain next to her interrupted her snarky comment.

“Why are you here Reichsfuhrer?” 

The question was simple enough, and probably justified given that Thalia hadn’t seemed aware of his presence in the interrogation room when they’d entered.

“You’re not getting results Captain… The Fuhrer wanted me to try and use other methods.” The man pushed his glasses up his nose as he eyed Reyna where she stood for a moment, then added bitterly. “und um dich daran zu erinnern, was passiert, wenn du keine Ergebnisse bekommst, Grazie.” (and to remind you of what happens when you don’t get results, Grazie.)

Reyna didn’t know what Himmler had meant by that last statement, but she knew the other woman did. She saw her bite down on her bottom lip to stop it from quivering slightly, and the American looked curiously between the two Germans.

“Ich habe Ergebnisse bekommen, Reichsführer. Sie gab uns Informationen.” (I got results Reichsführer. She gave us information.)

The man slammed his hands hard against the metal table in the middle of the room that the two of them were stood a few feet away from. The sound rang out harshly in the room and Reyna jumped slightly at the sound, noticing no such movements coming from Thalia. Himmler had set his jaw as he looked the younger German dead in the eye across the table, his lips pulled into a snarl as he lifted his right arm to point at the American.

“Sie hat gelogen.” (She was lying.) He growled harshly, Thalia turning then to meet Reyna’s gaze. “Wir haben sowohl Ressourcen als auch Soldaten für ihre Lügen verloren.” (We have lost both resources and soldiers for her lies.)

Reyna glanced guiltily to the floor before she returned her gaze to the German’s, an apology evident behind the look. Thalia just ran a hand through her hair and she turned back to look at her superior.

“Ich kann nicht kontrollieren, ob sie mich belügt.” (I cannot control her lying to me.) She responded simply, shrugging sarcastically at the other man… A move that was either really brave, or really stupid in Reyna’s opinion. It was very quickly confirmed to be the latter.

Himmler had strode around the table and shoved Thalia against a wall, beady eyes meeting hers in challenge as they just stood there. He muttered something into the space between them then that Reyna couldn’t make out from where she was stood to the other side of the room. The fire behind Thalia’s eyes had immediately been put out though, her expression dropping as her mouth fell slightly agape at whatever the man had muttered to her.

“Was hast du getan?” (What have you done?) The woman muttered as the man shoved her against the wall and turned to walk back to the table.

He grabbed an envelope from the desk and threw it across the room until it came to a skidding stop at Thalia’s feet. The man smirked at his Captain as she glanced nervously between Himmler and the brown envelope on the floor.

“Du solltest jetzt wissen, dass der Führer keine leeren Drohungen macht.” (You should now know that the Fuhrer doesn’t make empty threats.)

Reyna shifted her gaze from the weasel back to Thalia. The woman had watery eyes as she crouched to snatch the envelope up off the floor. The Captain passed a quick glance back up to Himmler as she tore the thing open and pulled out its contents cautiously.

Reyna heard the choked sob that was drawn from the German’s lips as she collapsed to her knees. Her hands shaking with anger as she clutched the photograph paper that had been within the envelope. The American really didn’t know what was going on, had the fact that she’d lied caused this? And what had it even actually caused… there wasn’t much she knew of that could pull a reaction like this from the German. What had he done?

“Du Hurensohn…” (You son of a bitch…)

The man didn’t seem fazed by the woman’s words. Simply leaning against the table as the woman remained on the floor in tears, staring at the photographs in her hands.

“You should have done your job.” He stated. Thalia didn’t look at him as he spoke, her eyes stayed on the images that Reyna couldn’t see from where she was stood. “Nächstes Mal wird es dein Bruder sein.” (It will be your brother next time.)

The man threw a single picture in front of the SS Captain and she tore her eyes from the others to pick it up. Her jaw clenched at the contents of the image and, as she flipped it over, Reyna caught a glimpse of some words scrawled across the back - she didn’t get enough of a look to know what it said but Thalia’s reaction made it clear enough that it wasn’t good.

The German woman had moved quickly. She’d pushed herself off the floor, the new picture still clutched in her right hand as she lunged for the man - she pulled him off the table and slammed his back against the wall nearby. To anyone else, Thalia would have been terrifyingly intimidating as she levelled her gaze with the man that was roughly the same height as her… but Himmler barely flinched, not even as his back collided heavily with the concrete wall. He just stared at her. 

“Wenn du ihn berührst, werde ich dich töten Heinrich... ohne zu zögern.” (If you touch him, I will kill you Heinrich… without hesitation.)

“Sie sind nicht in der Lage, Drohungen Kapitän zu machen.” (You are in no position to make threats Captain.)

Reyna gulped as she watched the interaction between the two Germans. Thalia cursed as she dropped the man and threw a fist at the wall a few centimetres from his head - Rey heard the crack and she didn’t know if it was the wall, Thalia’s fist, or both…

When she drew her arm back to her side, there was a cracked dent in the wall, and blood ran thickly across her knuckles to drip to the floor. Himmler continued to stare at the woman, passing a brief glance at the dent next to his head before returning his gaze to her.

“Genau das wollte ich von dir ... zu ihr.” (That’s what I wanted you to do… to her.) 

The man’s voice was harsh, almost growling as he spoke to his subordinate. 

He then moved past her and walked straight towards the American, who backed herself against the opposite wall. She caught Thalia’s gaze briefly over Himmler’s shoulder before he drew her attention back to him.

“Cell Block X Captain - once a week, starting today… Your way isn’t working, so I’ll let the Doctor try his.”

Reyna knew that he was talking to Thalia and not her, but the words were spoken in clear English - which suggested that he meant for her to know what he was saying. She didn’t know what Cell Block X was, she didn’t remember being shown around it, but she knew the other inmates talked about it in a fearful way. She also didn’t know what doctor he was referring to - Thalia had mentioned a few that she was very against becoming acquainted with.

“Two hours, Captain Grazie. I’ll tell him to expect you.”

Himmler left the room then, without pause, and Reyna looked over to where the German was staring at the wall again. The American slowly made her way across the room to reach for the Captain’s bloodied hand.

“Are you okay?” Thalia shook her head without looking back at her. “What happened?”

The other woman bowed her head and using the hand Rey kept a hold of, she pointed towards the other photos still on the floor. Reyna moved carefully to pick one of them up, holding her other hand to her mouth in shock at the image it displayed. It was of an older man; he had graying hair and bright blue eyes, and the harsh lines of his face were eerily similar to those of Thalia’s… He was lying on the floor in the picture, blood pooling around the body from severe lacerations to his torso and from a single gunshot wound to his forehead. His eyes were lifeless as they stared at the camera, and his head lolled to one side. Reyna tore her eyes away from the image to look up at the German who had walked to stand merely a foot or so away from her.

“You said before that they were threatening you family…” Reyna muttered softly.

“And they followed through on that threat… the man in the photos was my father.”

The American stepped closer to the other woman so she could reach up to wipe the remnants of tears from her cheeks, pulling her head down to place a kiss on her forehead. The German quirked a small smile at her for the gesture before sitting down at the table in the room with her. This time electing to leave the camera switched off, it didn’t matter if she was being pulled off the interrogation team anyway.

“I’m sorry… the other photo, he mentioned your brother, is he okay?” Thalia nodded carefully from where she was perched on the edge of the table. The photo now less crumpled in her left hand as Rey kept hold of her bloodied right hand.

“He’s fine as far as I know. They’re just threatening him.”

“I thought you said you’d got him out of Germany, they can’t get him beyond their borders.” The German scoffed slightly as she handed the photo over to Reyna. The man was pretty much the walking definition of the ‘Aryan Race’ as Hitler described them - blonde hair, blue eyes, built like a soldier, and he was 100% German (a factor that the American always found particularly hypocritical given that Hitler himself was Austrian and not German, he was also a brunette with brown eyes so there was that).

“I thought he was safe, but they have hidden agents everywhere. Evidently they now know where he lives too…”

Reyna noted the bottom of the picture had a timestamp, and the words on the back read ‘204 Benning Road, Washington D.C. USA’.

“I’m sorry…” She muttered as she turned it back over to look at the photo again. The man was walking through a park with a shorter native American woman, and a young blonde boy. “Why don’t you just call to warn him?”

“I can’t, they trace my phone calls. I have a contact that might be able to help, but I can’t do anything yet, they expect me to react immediately.” Reyna nodded her understanding quickly before she glanced back at the photo and tried to make the topic a bit more light hearted.

“What’s his name?”

“I think it’s Jason Grace now… He wanted to go by his middle name and he just used the English translation of our last name for his, his name used to be Timo - or TJ.”

Reyna smiled at the woman, she didn’t think she’d heard the name Timo before but it was a nice name. Strangely seeming to suit the image of the man in the photo.

“The woman is Piper, his wife now… The boy is his son, I believe they called him Hugo.” Thalia smiled a little more now she was properly talking about them, going on to tell Reyna about how they used to mess around as children, and how she wished she could meet her nephew since she’d never yet got the chance to.

“Can I ask you something?” The American said when there was a pause, the German nodding her agreement. “Are you telling me your real name, or are you giving out your middle name like TJ?”

The other woman laughed slightly.

“I’m giving you my actual first name, I prefer it to my middle name.” Reyna raised her eyebrow in question and Thalia sighed, rolling her eyes as she added, “Juna…”

“So you’re both TJ huh?” The German shrugged over exaggeratedly and stuck her tongue out slightly at the woman, who chuckled in response. “You’re right though, Thalia definitely suits you better.”

“Thanks.”

Both their heads were then drawn to the creak of the metal door opening nearby.

“Kapitän, schickte Himmler für Sie.” (Captain, Himmler sent for you.)

“Danke.”

The other soldier quickly bowed out of the room at the German’s response. The woman offering Reyna a hand as she stood up, pulling the American to her feet too.

“I’m sorry about this… if I could get you out of it, I would.”

“I know, meine Geliebte.”

Reyna scanned the room quickly before pushing up onto her tiptoes to press a lingering kiss to Thalia’s lips. The German taking her hand when they pulled apart.

“Ich werde die ganze Zeit hier sein, in Ordnung? Ich liebe dich, Reyna.” (I’ll be here the whole time, alright? I love you, Reyna.)

“Ich kenne, meine Geliebte… ich liebe dich auch.” (I know, my love… I love you too.)


	9. The Angel of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyna faces a fate that she was far less than prepared for.  
> And Thalia faces her own truths about what kind of a person she was.  
> If you choose the lesser of two evils, you still choose evil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How would you fair when faced with torturers and monsters?  
> Today would be the day Reyna found out the answer to that question.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Reyna walked side by side with Thalia through the camp. The walk was quiet, neither of them knew what to say… Reyna paused though when she saw the imposing building with ‘CELL BLOCK X’ written across the side of it.

“What happens when I go through those doors? Who are they assigning to me?” The American failed to keep the nervous stutter out of her voice as she spoke. The momentary silence from Thalia not helping to comfort her, though she wasn’t sure the answer would either, she just felt better knowing what she was up against.

“When you go through there I can’t protect you from what really happens here… I don’t know what they’re going to do to you… But the Doctor that Himmler was talking about, was Josef Mengele - they asked him to come over from Auschwitz, I doubt he’ll stay long but that isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

“Thalia, am I going to die?” The German looked across at the other woman, shaking her head as she did so.

“He won’t kill you, he wants information… I’ll intervene if he goes too far.”

“No I- I don’t want you in the room… Please, I don’t want you to see me like that… Being broken.” Thalia grabbed Reyna’s hand at the words, knowing why she was saying them,   
she didn’t really want to watch the woman she loved get tortured either.

“Okay, I’ll be with you every other day though - they’ll want to make sure you recover between these interrogations… Stay strong for me alright love?” Reyna nodded, her eyes watering slightly as the German pressed a kiss to her temple.

They’d continued walking into the building then, Reyna taking comfort in the hand Thalia rested on the small of her back as she led her through the single dark corridor. The building was deadly silent, the echo of their footsteps the only sound they could hear. There was one light source visible in the building, seeping from the clouded windows of a room on the left of the corridor at the very far end. It almost made the building look more threatening, probably because Reyna knew what awaited her within that room.  
Thalia had squirmed uncomfortably next to her as she paused before knocking twice against the glass and pushing the door open.

“Ah, Thalia, always a pleasure. This must be the American?” Mengele didn’t seem like Reyna had expected - having seen how Himmler looked, and Hitler, it surprised her that the   
‘Doctor’ was young and had an almost friendly face (though Reyna knew that front would drop as soon as she was alone with him).

“It is.”

“Wonderful, over there please.” The man directed them towards a pair of shackles that hung from the ceiling by chains and Thalia’s eyes were apologetic as she made to put them around her wrists.

“Wie geht es Ihrem Sohn, Josef?” (How is your son?) 

Reyna quirked a smile at Thalia as she tried to delay the man, knowing that he had to leave at a certain time, and that the conversation would shorten the American’s suffering for today.

“Es geht ihm gut, er hat definitiv das Aussehen seiner Mutter.” (He’s well, definitely has his mother’s looks.)

“Wie hast du ihn am Ende benannt?” (What did you name him in the end?)

“Rolf… Er ist bezaubernd, aber er gibt uns nicht halb schlaflose Nächte.” (Rolf, He’s adorable, but he doesn’t half give us some sleepless nights).

Reyna tuned out most of the conversation, focussing on readying herself for the torture she would be faced with in a short time. She was already in a state as it was thanks to the soldiers that had beat her and dragged her almost to her death earlier, but she’d be damned if she wouldn’t stay strong through this - she’d made a deal with Thalia that she would, and if nothing else, she knew the German would be waiting to catch her when she was ready to drop at the end of the evening.

“Das sind Kinder für dich, nehme ich an.” (That’s children for you I suppose).

“Ja… Richtig, ich muss weitermachen. Sie sind entlassen Kapitän.” (Yes… Right, I must get on. You are dismissed Captain).

Thalia nodded simply, shaking the man’s hand before passing one last worried glance at the American who grimaced rather than smiled at her in return.

The German had walked briskly down the corridor, hoping to get out before anything happened, but it wasn’t to be. She’d just put her hand on the door that would bring her out of the building when a cry of pain had echoed through the building. Thalia tightened her jaw at the sound, a choked sob sticking in her throat as tears welled in her eyes… She hated not being able to do anything… and if Josef killed her, she would hunt that man to the ends of the Earth to return the favour.

She hated this.

But there was nothing she could do to stop it. They’d threatened her brother, his wife, his son… She couldn’t stop this yet.

It broke her heart to do so, but she pushed her way through the door and marched back to her office without pausing. She couldn’t turn around, if she had she’d have run straight back into that room to put a stop to all of this, and it broke her heart that she couldn’t do that yet.

Thalia had all but collapsed against her office chair, demanding to only be interrupted when Mengele had news of the American, and buried her hands in her coat pockets. As she did so, she felt a folded piece of paper under her fingers and pulled it out, carefully unfolding it. She hadn’t been aware of Reyna writing since they’d been left alone, but the handwriting was undeniably the American’s.

It read: There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment. I love you. Simply, without problems or pride. I’ll come back to you, but you best come back to me too.

Thalia clenched her jaw as she walked to lock the door to the office before sitting on the floor, back against the wall, and she cried. Maybe the Allies were right. They were monsters, she was a monster… No-one that wasn’t would be able to allow the person they loved to go through all this. It didn’t matter that she was threatened into it.

Doing the wrong thing for the right reason was still wrong.

Herself and her countrymen had allowed themselves to become monsters - not the mythical kind, no, they were monsters with human faces, in crisp uniforms, marching in lockstep, so banal you wouldn’t recognize them for what they were until it was too late.

Even if a monster was forced into a wrong action, they were still a monster.

…

Thalia had nodded off against her desk as the evening drew on and when someone banged against the metal door, her head had snapped up to see that it 9:32pm.

“Ja?” (Yes?) 

“Mengele hat nach dir gerufen.” (Mengele called for you).

Thalia pushed herself up from her seat, wiping at the drying tears around her eyes as she unlocked the door and strode out of the room.

“Danke.” She muttered as she walked past her subordinates and headed out through the Sobibor camp system.

Her hands were shaking as she got into Cell Block X - her footsteps echoing through the corridor, a soft dripping the only other sound that could be heard through the building.

The door at the end of the corridor swung open and Dr Mengele had strode out confidently, pulling a bloodied leather apron from his body and the rubber gloves from his hands as he walked towards her.

“Du hattest recht Grazie, sie ist hart. Ich freue mich auf nächste Woche.” (You were right Grazie, she is tough. I’m looking forward to next week). Thalia clenched her jaw to stop herself making a snarky comment at the man as he spoke. “Sie gehört dir. Flick sie für mich auf.” (She’s yours. Fix her up for me.)

With that the man was gone, leaving Thalia to continue towards the room he had come from. She walked cautiously towards the room, checking her shoulder before pushing through the door.

“Reyna…” The name came out as a sob and the German all but ran across the room to the other woman. She unlocked the shackles as quickly as she could and had to move to catch Reyna as she collapsed against her. “Rey, my love, can you hear me?”

“T-Thalia…” The American’s stutter pulled a sigh of relief from Thalia as she knelt against the floor and pulled Reyna into her arms.

“I’m here my love, I’m here… Can you put your arms around my neck?” Reyna nodded slightly against the German, struggling to lift her arms and wrap them around the other woman. Thalia scooping her up in her arms as carefully as she could to carry her back to her to the main building on the other side of the camp until she could lay her down on the bed to rest whilst Thalia searched for medical supplies.

“I’m so sorry I let them do this…” The German muttered as she cupped the woman’s cheek.

“I-It’s n-not your fault… Y-you’re gonna s-stay with me, right?”

“Always, my love.”


	10. Artz Grazie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia was desperate, running around to try and find everything she'd need to help patch up Reyna.  
> She tried to remain calm for her, but she felt helpless.   
> She'd let this happen, and she wanted nothing more than to find a way to make it stop.  
> Today, maybe she would find her way to bring about the beginning of the end of this torture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thalia has to use what medical knowledge she has to try and help Reyna after her run in with Mengele.  
> And maybe she'd find a way to stop the American's torture too...  
> Hope you enjoy.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

Thalia had eventually found the medical supplies and rushed back over to the bed in the room. Reyna was drifting in and out of consciousness, but managed to focus in on the German’s voice as she returned to her side - her accent however, not making it easy to make out all the words she was saying whilst she was so dazed.

“Reyna love, can you hear me?”

“Y-yeah…”

“This should help ease the pain a bit but I haven’t got any anaesthetic so you’ll have to be awake for this and it might hurt okay?” Reyna nodded her acknowledgement and turned to face the German who was holding a small injection containing pain relief.

“I-it’s okay, w-won’t hurt l-like what he d-did.”

Thalia cupped the American’s cheek gently, wiping at the tears that were welling in her eyes. The German offered her a sympathetic smile and pressed their foreheads together.

“I’ll find a way to get you out of here, I promise.”

“You c-can’t promise that.” Reyna muttered into the small space between them.

“I can, and I will. I have a meeting with my contact next week and after that I will do everything in my power to find a way out of here.” 

Reyna believed her. She had no reason to believe it was possible, to hope it was possible, but she did - if only because it was Thalia who was making the promise to her.

The German returned to what she’d been doing before, calming her shaking hands to ensure she could safely administer the pain relief that she was sure Reyna would be rather desperate for by now, pausing briefly to check how serious the wounds to her head were (continuing only when she was satisfied that it wouldn’t cause any complications given that morphine wasn’t a good mix with severe head injuries).

Thalia took her time to make sure she cleaned up the American’s wounds properly using a cloth and some rubbing alcohol that had been in the medical cupboard. It clearly stung, and the Captain hissed every time Thalia pressed the cloth to her wounds.

“I’m sorry but I need to clean them, I can’t stitch them up if they’re just gonna get infected.”

Reyna had nodded her understanding but drew her head closer to rest against Thalia where she knelt next to her, trying to get comfortable despite her injuries. Finding that burying herself into the German’s side was helping her to forget about how much the alcohol was stinging. It only took a couple more minutes for Thalia to finish cleaning up the wounds and she’d pulled away from Reyna slightly (who complained at the action) to find what she needed to stitch up the wounds.

“Give me a moment, I’ll see if I can find any local anaesthetic - the camp doctor might have some.”

“I-if they do, I d-don’t think they use it…” Thalia bowed her head, she knew that was probably true and she hated that it was, but for now she had to check if they at least had any.

So, Thalia had walked through the building until she found the infirmary. Pushing into the room to talk to the doctor inside who did, in fact, possess some local anaesthetic (though he had told her in some such words to ‘not bother and let her fucking suffer’ - it had taken all of Thalia’s strength to pull a tight lipped smile at the man instead of punching him in the face as she’d have much rather done). 

The German returned hastily to her barracks and to the woman inside who she really needed to get back to right now.

The worst of Reyna’s injuries were around her abdomen and one was on her thigh so Thalia had tackled those first, the anaesthetic seeming to do the trick to limit how much Reyna could feel of her efforts to stitch up her wounds.

Thalia eventually finished patching the American up and she packed away the supplies, gently moving Reyna’s head away from her and back onto the pillow as the other woman groaned sleepily. The German pulled the blanket over Reyna and made her way to the small bathroom in her barracks to wash the blood from her hands, glancing over her shoulder when the sleep filled tone of the American’s voice reached her ears.

“Thalia…”

“Yes, love?”

“Will you come and lay with me?” Thalia smiled easily at the woman, finishing cleaning herself up before she made her way over to the bed. 

The German lay with Reyna but stayed as far from her as she could. The American didn’t seem pleased with her actions, reaching out to grab hold of the front of her shirt and pull her towards her. Thalia resisting slightly.

“I don’t want to hurt you…” She muttered into the space between them.

“You won’t hurt me, you never do. Please Thalia…”

The Captain gave in and scooted closer to Reyna, the injured American burying herself in Thalia’s side (shifting around for a moment until she got comfortable). The two eventually falling asleep in each other’s arm.

…

A knock sounded a few hours later, and Thalia jerked awake at the sound. The American stirring next to her with a groan of complaint.

“What’s that?”

“It’s nothing don’t worry darling…” Thalia pushed herself up slightly as she called out towards her door. “Was?!” (What?!)

“Schindler ist hier Kapitän.” (Schindler is here Captain).

“Schick ihn rein ... alleine.” (Send him in… alone).

The door inched open then, the older German slipping through the gap before closing the door swiftly.

“What’s going on? Thalia?” The German pressed a kiss to the American’s forehead to calm her slightly, muttering a short response.

“Nothing my love, it’s just a friend visiting… Go back to sleep.” Reyna nodded her agreement as she let her head come to rest against the pillow again. “It’s good to see you Oskar, I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

“Well, you asked for my help so I came as quickly as I could… Is this why you need my help?”

“Yes, but I need you to do something else for me first. You know what they have against me. I can’t get her out of here until I know my brother’s safe, they’re threatening him and I   
can’t get word out I-”

“Consider it done. I’ll send word to him as soon as I’m back at my factory, and I’ll let you know when he has made it to the safe house.”

“Danke, Oskar…” 

Thalia shook the man’s hand as her eyes began to water at his kindness. There were few people left in Nazi Germany that were like him, that were good people. He helped a lot of prisoners throughout the concentration camp systems, so Thalia knew she could trust him with this - his factories were used to help large numbers of those prisoners forced into labour to escape Germany.

The two talked for some time longer, extending his stay so that it wasn’t too short to the point that it would be considered suspicious - but eventually the older man had left the camp to make his long journey back into the Fatherland.

There was hope yet. If Schindler could get her brother to a safe house, then she could get Reyna out of here… She would get Reyna out of here.

It was already late July, she hoped that by the end of August she’d have completed her mission. That wasn’t guaranteed though; there were many pieces that had to be put in place for this to be carried out successfully, and if any of them went wrong, then this would all go to shit.

Thalia wouldn’t let that happen though. She’d do everything in her power to save this woman, no-one deserved her efforts more. 

Thalia lay back down beside Reyna then, the other woman curling into the German as she did so, both happy to get some rest for now… but tomorrow, the work would truly begin.


	11. Found In Berlin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A month after Mengele's first visit, Himmler comes to Sobibor with news.  
> There's another prisoner of war coming to camp, but how will it change the dynamic.  
> Until then, Reyna has two weeks of peace, and she plans on spending them indulging in a little fun with her German.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Himmler's visit tells of Prisoner #2 arriving in 2 weeks.  
> Until then, why not have some fun?  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

August 31st 1943

A month. 

That’s how long it had been since Mengele’s first visit. 

He’d returned weekly after that, and Reyna wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. The torture was far worse than anything she’d prepared herself for, but she’d told him nothing, and she’d continue to tell him nothing until the war ended or she died.

He’d visited the camp again yesterday. So for now Reyna got some reprieve. She’d woken up that morning curled into Thalia, her whole body aching beyond belief, but she was still comfortable as long as the other woman was with her. Blue eyes blinked open to look at her eventually, and Reyna managed to smile at the German.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, love. How’re you feeling?” Reyna shrugged off the question, though the action caused her to wince and Thalia sighed as she pushed herself out of the bed with a roll of her eyes.

“Where are you going?” The American muttered in complaint.

Thalia didn’t answer. She just walked to her desk and then returned holding out a small pot to her.

“Painkillers. They won’t do much, but it might take the edge off.”

“Thank you.”

Reyna sat to take the pills, before she made to pull the German back onto the bed to sit with her. The two remained there for a little while longer until there was a loud banging at the door, starling Thalia out of the comfort of her bed. 

“Lay down, love. Close your eyes.” The American did as she was asked, though her eyes showed her worry as she did so. All Thalia could do was offer her a reassuring smile. “Ja?”   
(Yes?)

The only reply the SS Captain got was the opening of the door as Himmler stepped into the room. The German tensed up as she looked at the weasel of a man that stood before her. He smirked at her reaction. Briefly pausing to cast his eyes over Reyna’s form where she lay on the bed. Then he returned his gaze to his subordinate, approaching slowly as he began to speak.

“We have another… She will be here in 2 weeks to join your American with Mengele.”

“Another prisoner sir?” The man nodded with a smile tugging at his lips.

“She tried to break into the Department of Defence in Berlin. We caught her in the act… American’s are too arrogant for their own good.”

“You think she came for her.” Thalia’s words were a statement more than they were a question. Reyna couldn’t see the man nodding but she was sure he was.

Someone had been trying to find her. The Allies knew she was missing. They might be able to get her out of here… But. If they found Thalia, they’d surely kill her, she wore an SS uniform afterall. She couldn’t dwell on that now though, Himmler was still talking about this other prisoner.

“Why would they risk sending someone to Berlin sir?”

“The US Army didn’t send her. According to her she came of her own accord.”

Thalia furrowed her eyebrows at the older man. No-one would volunteer to walk into Berlin without orders to do so, that was suicide.

“Turns out you were useful for figuring out one thing Captain… People will do anything for family. Did she tell you she has a sister?”

“She said she’d try to find her…”

“Well, it would be rude not to reunite them, wouldn’t it? Threaten the right person and anyone will say what they have to to keep them safe. You should know, which means we have an opportunity.” Thalia felt the anger bubbling in her chest as she looked at her superior, the man practically glowing with pride at his ‘victory’. “I told the other one her sister was safe. Make sure she’s mostly healed up by the time she gets here, then we’ll torture them both until one of them talks to stop it. Clear?”

“Yes sir.”

With that, he was gone. Thalia was frozen where she stood for a moment, she knew the man had spoken in English in the hopes that Reyna would ‘wake’ to catch some of the conversation… He just didn’t know she’d heard all of it.

“They have Hylla.” Reyna’s voice cracked as she muttered the words quietly, almost seeming afraid that if she said them any louder it would make them more true.

“Yes love…”

“I can’t watch her die, Thalia I-” The German turned in time to see the woman break down into harsh sobs. The Captain making her way back onto the bed to wrap her arms around Reyna as she cried.

“It’ll be okay, Reyna… We will figure something out. I promise, I will fix this.”

“They’re going to kill her in front of me Thalia! How is this going to be okay?!”

“Hey! I won’t let that happen…” Thalia cupped the American’s cheeks in her hands, allowing the other girl to see the sincerity behind her eyes. “I will do everything I can to keep her   
safe, just like I am with you. You won’t have to watch her die, alright?”

Reyna nodded as she collapsed against the German’s side, burying herself in the Captain’s neck.

“Hey, Rey?” The American looked up to meet Thalia’s gaze as the tears finally started to dry on her cheeks. “On a scale of 1 to Hitler, how much is your sister going to want to kill me for this?”

Reyna laughed slightly at the comment, wiping her eyes as she pushed herself to sit up properly, the joking remark helping to make her feel a little better. She placed a kiss against Thalia’s cheek and smiled at her.

“Don’t worry my love, I won’t let her kill you.” 

“Well, I mean, I’d hope you wouldn’t. Seeing as you say you love me and all.” Reyna could see the cheeky smirk tugging at the German’s lips and placed a finger against her chin to turn her head towards her. 

“I do love you.” She murmured softly, her tongue moving to wet her lips slightly before she pressed them firmly to Thalia’s. 

The other woman hummed in surprise but kissed her back just as feverously. The German shifted her position to hover above Reyna as she deepened the kiss, and the American could feel her heart hammering faster in her chest at the action. Thalia had never kissed her like this before, passionate and lingering, but fuck she wished she had done this before.

“Remind me why we’ve never done this again?” Reyna had stuttered when they’d broken apart for a moment, Thalia’s breathing as ragged as her own was right now.

“Because I’m an idiot.” The American laughed slightly at the response before Thalia cut her off with another kiss.

This one didn’t linger as long on her lips but the whine forming in her throat when the German pulled away was quickly turned into a soft moan as Thalia trailed kisses along her jawline and down her neck. Reyna becoming very aware of the fact that she was definitely going to have a hickey on her neck later if the German kept this up, though she found that she really didn’t care… It wasn’t like she would be going anywhere for awhile anyway.

…

“You left a mark love.” Reyna caught Thalia’s gaze in the mirror she was staring into as she looked at her bruised neck and chest, this bruising from a much more enjoyable source than the others covering her body.

“Looks like more than one to me.”

The American could see the smirk Thalia was trying, and failing, to hide from her - so Reyna turned to lean against the doorway of the bathroom, quirking an eyebrow at the   
German.

“You’re proud of this, aren’t you?”

“Am I not supposed to be?” Reyna paced back across to the bed as the woman responded, watching as the German’s eyes shamelessly raked over her body.

“Didn’t anybody tell you it’s rude to stare?” The American muttered as she leant over to place a kiss to the other woman’s lips.

“What am I supposed to do when faced with such beauty? Look away?”

Reyna blushed deeply at the compliment. She was about to deny the claim and change quickly to hide her currently hideously scarred body, but when she looked at the German she knew that the other woman truly did believe that she was beautiful. Even when she was so… broken.

“I love you, you know that?” Reyna said softly as she settled next to Thalia on the bed, lacing their fingers together.

“I know.” The American felt the woman press a soft kiss to her forehead before adding simply, “I love you too.”


	12. Peaceful Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thalia and Reyna have what must be one last day left to enjoy the peace they had found themselves in.  
> Because today, today they brought the other Ramírez sister to Sobibor.  
> And today, Mengele had come with her...  
> When you're at war with the world, you must come to expect that peace never lasts long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reyna and Thalia have one last day of peace.  
> And Thalia gets the joys of meeting the older sister...  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

September 28th 1943

Reyna had blinked sleep out of her eyes this morning to find herself alone in the bed, she mumbled a complaint as she rolled over to spot Thalia sat by her desk with the headset for the radio held up to her ears.

“What’re you doing?” 

Thalia jumped a mile as she spun to meet the American’s gaze.

“I didn’t realise you were awake.” She grumbled as she waited for her heart rate to return to normal again. “I’m trying to tap into the security frequency.”

“Why?” The German paused in her fidgeting as she passed her gaze back over to Reyna.

“They’re bringing your sister in today…”

Reyna pushed herself into a sitting position as she looked at the other woman. It had been almost a month since she’d found out they had Hylla but she still hadn’t been prepared for the news that she was going to be here, being tortured just like she was.

“Mengele is with her.”

“What?!” Reyna’s voice flared with anger as she sat bolt upright, desperately looking for a sign that Thalia was lying… she wasn’t.

“He was in Berlin when they found her, so he’s coming in with her. I’m keeping an ear out for when they get here.”

Muffled speaking echoed through the headset then, and Thalia pulled it back up to her ear before throwing the thing down and pulling her jacket on as she stood. The German paced over to place a kiss on Reyna’s lips before muttering that she’d be right back and making a hasty exit.

Rey felt like she’d waited there for hours before the other woman returned, but she did eventually return. Blood trickling down one side of her neck, she locked the door behind her   
and cursed in German before turning to face the American properly. The shorter girl all but running over to grab her, tilting her chin up so she could see the long cut running against her jawline.

“I thought you were just going to greet people.”

“I was…” She muttered, wincing when Reyna caught the cut with her fingers. “They brought Dirlewanger with them too, and you know how any conversation with him ends.”

“Why does he hate you so much?”

“He doesn’t… He wants to sleep with me, I keep rejecting him. He keeps asking me if I’m one of the scum we imprison and then does something like this. He’s sick and twisted, nothing more or less.”

“If you want, the next time he tries to hook up with you I could put him through the ‘voluntary castration’ programme he likes to impose on us scum?” Rey said as innocently as if she’d normally ask how Thalia’s day was.

The German just laughed in response. Placing a kiss to her girlfriend’s lips before meeting her gaze again.

“That won’t be necessary, don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

“I wasn’t questioning that ability my love.” Reyna responded simply, pulling Thalia across the room to sit with her on the bed. “How is she?”

“She looks better off than you normally do, so that’s probably a good sign… I doubt that will last much longer now she’s here though. He doesn’t want you both yet, he’s going to   
take it in turns for a while. He said he’s going to put you in neighbouring rooms and see if the other’s screams are enough to get you talking.”

“It’s definitely her?” Reyna asked, praying that it wasn’t. Thalia handed the small picture back to Reyna, the one that showed them both beside their father when they’d enlisted.

“It’s her.” The German confirmed. Pulling the American into her embrace when the girl’s head fell against her shoulder and she started crying. “I’ll find a way to save you both Reyna, you know I will.”

“I know you’ll try… Thank you.”

The two didn’t move for a long time after that. Reyna needed the comfort that only Thalia could give her, and the German wasn’t about to deny the other girl that comfort. So they just sat there, until Reyna had run out of tears to cry and she just collapsed against the bed.

“Write to her if you want. I’ll get it to her.”

“You’d do that? What if you got caught?” Thalia shrugged easily.

“They can’t do anything to me, I’m already in hell. Write. I’ll get her the message.”

Reyna allowed herself to grin up at the German as paper and a pen were thrown in her general direction. The girl getting to work writing out what she wanted to say whilst Thalia completed some of her own work.

It had taken almost an hour for Rey to finish the letter, and Thalia was currently weaving her way through the large complex until she found the wing that the other Ramírez sister was being kept on. She’d approached and the two guards near the door immediately stepped out of her way, allowing the young Captain to make her way into the small room that was serving as a prison cell for the woman.

Hylla looked a lot like her sister, though she was taller and looked physically stronger (though she wasn’t sure that was going to be the case). She had the same dark hair kept in a platt down her back, and the same deep brown eyes, though hers were much harsher when they looked up at the German than Reyna’s ever were… although that was probably to   
be expected.

“Raubkatze!” The American spat as she approached, spitting at the ground by the German’s feet. Thalia chuckled slightly and the woman scrunched her brow in confusion at the response.

“I see your sister is the only one who can speak German of the two of you huh?”

“You speak English?!”

“Of course I do, I’m not an imbecile… and I also know it well enough to not try and insult somebody by calling them a cat.” Thalia gave Hylla a pointed look and the girl huffed in annoyance.

“Fine, you got me, I don’t do German… but then I don’t tend to care much for anyone that slaughters millions of innocents.” The woman responded, gaining some of her confidence back as she hissed the words at the German in front of her. She would not let it go unsaid - she knew what they were doing and they’d deserved to be called out for it.

“I can imagine. I assume you also don’t accept mail from murderers either?”

“Of course not?!”

“Not even if it’s from your sister…” That shut her up. The American looked between the letter being offered to her and the German holding it. “She wrote it this morning... will you please take it off me, my arm is getting rather tired of holding it out.”

The American snatched the letter from Thalia’s grasp but didn’t open it. Instead, looking suspiciously up at the German in front of her.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“She asked me to.”

“What you take orders from your prisoners… Captain?” Hylla finished as she glanced at the badge on her shoulder that signified her rank.

“No… but I imagine you wanted to know she was alive. There’s your proof.”

The German turned on her heel to exit then, hearing the tearing of the envelope as she made her way out of the door. Pacing back through the dank corridors until she found her way back to her own quarters.

Reyna had smiled up at the German from where she sat on the bed, shuffling over to make room for the other girl to collapse next to her.

“Have fun?” She asked teasingly, eyes flitting up from the book in her hands.

“Nope, not really… though she really can’t speak German huh?”

“What did she do?” Reyna asked, closing the book and turning her attention fully to the German Captain.

“Well I mean she spat at me which was rather disgusting… but I think she was trying to insult me too, I don’t really know, she called me cat.”

Reyna full on laughed at the response. Turns out Hylla really hadn’t been listening to any of the lessons she’d tried to give her in speaking German. Rey had always insisted it was important should they ever capture a non-English speaking German soldier or should they ever be faced with this situation… clearly Hylla had disagreed with the concept.

“She took the letter though. I’ll let you know if I get anything back.”

“Thank you my love.” Reyna murmured as she curled into Thalia’s side, the German pressing a kiss to her head as they lay there. Reyna reading and Thalia trying to fill out some paperwork until the night became late and the two fell into a peaceful slumber for what would likely be one of the last times, before Mengele or Himmler or whoever it would be decided they wanted the information that the Ramírez sisters’ had…


	13. The Best Laid Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torture is an unpleasant game for the Ramírez sisters.  
> But Thalia didn't plan on letting them suffer through it for long.  
> A revolution wasn't as difficult to organise as one might think... It's time to bring about the end of the Third Reich.  
> How would you handle creating a date for the history books?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reyna and Hylla aren't doing so well, but Thalia has a plan to get them out.  
> (Kind of a filler chapter, best one comes next ;) )  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

It had ended up being the last night of peace that they would have.

From the next morning, the tortures became daily occurrences. The first day, Himmler had stood questioning Reyna in one room whilst she listened to her sister’s screams through the wall from Mengele’s torture… The next day it had been the other way around and Hylla had to listen to her sister being tortured instead… but neither of them broke.   
Not once. Reyna had cried every time she had been questioned by Himmler whilst Hylla suffered, but she said nothing to him. She couldn’t.

It was everything she’d hoped to avoid though…

Thalia had looked after Reyna every night, whether she was emotionally or physically scarred at the end of the day, Thalia was always there. 

She was never there during the tortures though. But she was doing something in that time… She’d made a promise to get Reyna out of here, and she was so close to being able to actually do that. 

It had been a week into the torture of both Americans when Schindler had appeared at camp to speak with her.

The man had walked straight into her office without knocking. The woman nearly knocking her chair over to stand in greeting.

“Schindler…”

She shook the man’s hand, offering him a seat as she made to lock the door to the office.

“Danke, Grazie. I have news. Your brother, I heard back, he’s safe. We’re good to go, whatever it is you have planned.”

“Thank God… I owe you one Oskar, I really do. Get in contact with my cousin in Italy, see when he get a team to the forests outside the camp, that’s probably the safest way to carry out an extraction…” The man nodded his agreement, chewing on his lip as he thought something over briefly.

“You’ll need a distraction to get them out you know.”

“I have one in mind.”

Oskar raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

“How badly is this plan likely to end?”

“Well, starting a revolt doesn’t normally end well, but it would be an effective distraction.”

The man had laughed at the statement, but agreed that it could work. So, from the next day they had set the plan into motion.

Thalia’s cousin had told her he could be in occupied Poland by the 13th of October but he’d need a day to prepare, so they’d created the plan for the 14th.

The German Captain had found the girl Reyna had become friends with in the camp, Gwen, had made her the ring leader of the revolt. The woman had seemed shocked by the request but given that it gave her a chance to escape too, she accepted the mission she was given. The woman had rallied the prisoners in the camp as quickly as she could, knowing the rest would follow if enough people started it anyway so she didn’t have to recruit everyone.

She didn’t tell Reyna about it their plan though. Just in case the torture ever broke her, Thalia couldn’t risk it, it was too important to get her out now…

The plan was finalised by the 10th and her cousin had arrived when he said he would on the 13th. She hadn’t seen him herself, but Oskar had come back to inform her of the other man’s arrival.

“You think this will work?” He’d asked after they’d gone over all the details again.

“It has to… Don’t go anywhere now Oskar, we’ll need your help here.”

“Of course.”

The two had sat in silence for merely a moment before a knock rang clear against the door and Reyna was dropped unceremoniously on the floor of the room. They waited for the SS soldiers to retreat from the room and then between the two of them they managed to get the American onto the bed and in a slightly more comfortable position given her wounds.

“Reyna, love, are you okay?” 

The younger woman blinked slowly, coughing up some blood as she tried to reach for the German perched next to her.

“Thalia… I-I-It hurts…” Reyna managed to sputter out between ragged breaths as Thalia made to trail fingers lightly along a deep cut to the woman’s cheek.

“I know my love, but it’ll be over soon okay? I swear it to you…”

“You can’t…”

Thalia shuffled onto the bed to wrap the woman into her arms and lay with her. Oskar making use of the spare bed on the other side of the room for the night.

The German felt the wet heat of Reyna’s tears soaking through her shirt as she curled into her. Yeah. They definitely had to get her out of here. Like right now. Everything was in place now though… all she had to do was start an uprising. Between her, Schindler, Gwen, and a Soviet POW (Pechersky) they had everything they needed to pull this off though, and thanks to her Italian cousin they had a way out for the prisoners too.

Thalia would have it known that tomorrow would go down in history as the day they brought a concentration camp to a grinding halt. The day they dented the armour of the Reich. The day they returned people to their families. The day the Allies would get their soldiers back… and those Allies held enough information to hopefully bring an early end to this godforsaken war.

Remember this date.

October 14th 1943…

An uprising would come… and an empire would fall.


	14. The Sobibor Revolt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> October 14th 1943 - Sobibor Concentration Camp, Sobibor, Poland  
> Welcome to the day that history books would be written.  
> Mengele wanted today to be the day he broke the American soldiers, killed one of them maybe.  
> Thalia, however, had very different plans for today... Today she would get Reyna out, and safely home with her sister.  
> Today was the Sobibor Revolt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Revolt started today, Thalia would save the love of her life today.  
> But would everyone be happy with the outcome of the day.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

October 14th 1943 - Sobibor Concentration Camp, Sobibor, Poland

Thalia walked through the corridor of cell block X, a hand resting against Reyna’s back as they walked. The hour was getting late when she was asked to bring her in, but she’d shared a quiet word with Schindler first, and the revolt was set under way as she left. 

Footsteps echoed through the hallway, and Mengele had appeared to tell them to join him in the room with Hylla this time. Himmler wasn’t here anymore, he’d been needed in Berlin, but the torture’s had continued anyway. Today it seemed, he’d intended to ramp them up.. It was one thing hearing someone you loved be tortured, but it was another thing entirely to watch it happen.

She’d led Reyna through the door, the older Ramírez sister protesting as she struggled against her shackles when her clearly exhausted and injured sister was led into the room to be shackled to the ceiling so that the two were facing each other.

Thalia turned on her heel to leave then, but was halted by Mengele’s voice.

“Bleib bitte, Kapitän.” (Please stay, Captain).

Oh no.

Josef only ever asked her to stay in the room if he needed her to clear a body… he intended to kill one of them today. 

He wouldn’t succeed though. The German had already set her plan in motion, all she had to do now was delay him.

“Jawohl.” (Yes Sir).

Thalia stood by the door, closing it so that she knew they were alone. 

Mengele went on the prowl, walking around the exhausted figure of Reyna and pacing back across the room towards Hylla. Very much looking like the predator stalking towards its prey. 

“You said something to me yesterday, didn’t you American?” His words were harsh as they were spat at the older sibling. “You told me that I wouldn’t carry out my threats. You should know better than to challenge the Reich.”

Hylla snapped the chains tight as she struggled angrily against her restraints, clearly desperate to inflict some pain onto the man as well, but she could do nothing. The doctor laughed as he paced back a couple of steps.

“Tonight American, you are going to tell me what we want to know… and you will have exactly 5 minutes to do it. Any longer than that and your baby sister will not survive.” The man pulled a small vial out of his pocket and held it up in front of both girls, Reyna managing to lift her head enough to watch what was happening. “This. Is called Zyklon B. It’s cyanide based, and it is not a pleasant way to die.”

Thalia’s eyes flicked over to Reyna who was looking at her pleadingly, begging her to do something. Dammit Schindler best hurry up.

“Captain Grazie. Move the young one behind the glass walls for me please.”

Blue eyes looked almost startled but she nodded and took her sweet time in walking over to Reyna, Mengele pacing up behind her to hand her the keys to the shackles holding Reyna in place at the moment.

Then she heard it, just as she was accepting the keys from the man, the long blaring of a siren.

“What the hell is that?!” Mengele spat, looking over to spot the smirk growing on his fellow German’s face.

“That, is my cue.”

Thalia spun on her heel then, right arm swinging around with her to connect solidly with the man’s nose. Mengele crumpled into a heap on the floor and the woman briefly checked he was out cold before turning back to Reyna and unlocking the chains around her wrists.

The American collapsing into Thalia’s arms as she fell from where she’d been chained up.

“Hey, are you okay? Can you stand?”

“Yeah, yes… I-What’s going on?” Reyna asked as she stood slightly back from the German, still clinging to her arms though.

“I told you I’d get you out of here, now I’m about to keep that promise. Go let your sister down, I’m going to go and clear the hall.”

Reyna stumbled her way over to her sister as the German yanked the door open and fired her gun twice before returning to the room.

“Okay. I can lead you out of camp, but I need you to trust me, because this is about to get messy… Revolts don’t normally end without bloodshed.”

“Why are you helping us?” Hylla asked, her hands still practically trembling with anger.

“Believe it or not, we don’t all agree with this… and I promised I would.”

“Wha-”

Hylla huffed in annoyance as she stopped speaking, watching the German share a smile with her younger sister… Since when did Reyna think befriending the Nazis was a good idea?

“Okay, let’s go…”

Reyna spoke softly, managing to gain enough adrenaline to keep herself alert and ready to move despite the pain pulsing through her entire being. Thalia nodded once in agreement before turning back towards the door, Reyna filing in behind her, and Hylla begrudgingly standing at the back of the line.

The door creaked on its hinges as the German slowly pulled it open. Satisfied that there was no one out there, Thalia led the siblings through the dark building, the sounds of their footsteps echoing through the hallway as the only sound audible until they reached the large doors leading to the rest of the camp. They could hear clearly the shouts in German and Polish and Russian as gunshots rang out across the camp and footsteps ran past sounding loudly against the hard ground.

Thalia checked her shoulder for the reactions of the two women trailing after her. Both looked shocked and nervous, but Reyna met her eyes and nodded to encourage the German to lead on. Nothing that was out there could be worse than what she’d already seen and suffered through.

Thalia shouldered the door open then, shooting the SS man that had turned to try and fire first. The man fell with a thud and the trio emerged fully from the building then.

Reyna picked up his discarded gun, and Hylla found one too so that none of them were left defenceless.

It didn’t take long, as Thalia bobbed and weaved them through the camp. Heading into isolated areas that no one other than the German Captain could have found or successfully navigated.

The trio stumbled out through the broken gates to the camp, ducking behind the wall as shots were continually fired at other prisoners running across the the field of land that led to the forests beyond.

“What do we do now?!” Hylla snapped as she watched the bodies falling at varying points across the barren lands of Germany.

“Follow the wall along to the corner and run across the gap there. The guards are focussed here so it’ll be easier. Head into the forest opposite, on some trees there will be a red mark, follow those marks. I have someone waiting for you, he’ll get you out. You’ll have to give him a code word so he knows it’s you. The code word is: Häftling… Now you have to go. Quickly.”

Hylla nodded her thanks to the German stood before them and placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder to pull her in the direction they were told. Reyna just shrugged her off though, tears welling in her eyes as she stared up at Thalia, refusing to move.

“You’re not coming with us, are you?” She asked shakily.

“I have to stay Rey-”

“No! Thalia. If you stay they’ll kill you… You just assaulted one of their senior officers. Thals, please, I can’t lose you…” The SS Captain sighed as she pulled the American into her, Reyna clawing at the front of her uniform as she wept.

“Reyna… Love, look at me, please.”

Thalia ignored the confused expression written across Hylla’s face as she spoke, instead focussing solely on the woman in front of her. A finger pushing Reyna’s chin up so the shorter girl met her gaze, brown eyes still blurred with tears.

“I have to stay to fix all of this. Everything I’ve done in the name of my country. I have to stop what is happening, to try and make it right… When all this is over, I’ll come and find you though, I promise.” 

“Please don’t die, okay?” Reyna muttered softly and the German nodded her agreement as she pulled their heads to rest together.

“I’ll come back to you.”

Reyna tilted her head up slightly to capture Thalia’s lips with her own, wrapping her arms around the taller woman’s neck to deepen the kiss briefly before she pulled back to look into the electric blues of the other woman’s eyes. Scanning over every inch of her German, memorising all she could just in case… just in case she’d never get the chance to again.

“Ich liebe dich…” (“I love you”) Reyna managed to whisper into the space between them.

“Ich liebe dich auch, now get out of here. Please.” (“I love you too”)

Thalia dipped her head to kiss the American once more before the younger woman began to head away from the camp as she’d previously been instructed. The German paused to grab Hylla’s arm once her sister was out of the way.

“Hit me Lieutenant.”

“What?” The other woman scoffed out.

“I need it to look like I didn’t just let you escape. Hit me.”

Hylla needed no more prompting after the German had been more than happy to stick her tongue down her little sister’s throat, so she pulled her arm back and cracked the SS Captain across the nose - very definitely breaking it. Thalia blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes as her nose started gushing with blood. The older American smirked and ran off after her sister as the German stared down at her blood soaked hand. Hylla stopping only briefly to yell over her shoulder.

“Thanks Captain.”

Then they were gone. Thalia watched them until their figures disappeared beyond the tree line and then walked back through the gates of the camp, bleeding and hurting, but still happy… she’d done it. She’d got them out safely.

She made her way back to the torture room, walking through soldiers and prisoners as gunfire hailed down around her, and she just sat on a stool by the gun. Her gun still clenched tightly in her hand as she aimed it at the unconscious figure of Mengele on the floor, before she let it slip from her fingers and clatter unceremoniously to the floor.

…

Reyna ran through the trees, Hylla with her, the two tugging each other on the winding path indicated by the red markings on the trees. 

It felt like hours before they stumbled upon the right place. A man leaning against a large rock in a forest clearing.

“Häftling.” Reyna said cautiously as the man stomped out a cigarette against the heel of his boot.

“Reyna, I assume?” The man was tall, skinny, and almost ghostly in complexion. His voice accented but not German. “My name is Nicolas, but most people just call me Nico. This your sister?”

Reyna nodded as the man had looked over at her sister.

“You’re the one Thalia sent to help us?”

“I am, is my cousin alright?” The American nodded again as she finally placed the man’s accent… Italian.

“She was fine when we left. Where are you taking us?”

Nico knew from his cousin’s letters, and from the look on Reyna’s face at the mention of Thalia, that she was trying to move on from the topic before she broke into tears again. It hurt to lose someone you loved, Nico knew that, but Thalia wasn’t lost yet so he allowed the change of topic to happen to ease the woman’s mind.

“We’re heading back to the nearest frontier, hopefully they can tell us where your father is stationed.”

“Father’s here?” Hylla asked in shock.

“He arrived in France not long ago, one of my contacts got word to me around a week ago. Assumed he got worried enough about you to come and manage the situation himself… The journey back will be a long one though. To avoid the Nazis troops we’re going to have to head south and follow the Soviet/Polish border all the way around until we get back through the no man’s land between here and the rest of Europe.” 

The two sisters shared a confused look as the man explained the situation to them, they thought they were in Nazi Germany, to go into the USSR would take them well out of the way.

“Where are we now?”

“You have just crossed the border into the Soviet Union. Sobibor is the furthest east of the concentration camps in Poland.”  
Poland? They really hadn’t known where they were then. It makes sense though. Hide your more brutal and highly illegal activities in the invaded country and not your own. Stops people seeing what’s happening and protesting about it she supposed.

But Nico was right. If they were going to make it back to France from here, they’d have to cross a lot of what was essentially no man’s land… Which meant they could be attacked or rescued and it was really a lottery as to which it would be.The walk would last almost 3 weeks, and they would have to cross large parts of the USSR, Austria and Switzerland… Which was not good. Austria was part of the German Empire and Switzerland was back and forth between German and Allied control. 

3 weeks to reach safety, and even there they wouldn’t be ‘safe’... and whilst they faced that. Thalia was likely facing much worse at the hands of senior Nazi officials back within Nazi Germany… where she’d left her.

She should have made her come with them.

Because now… 

Now there was a chance that neither of them would make it back to each other alive.


	15. A Year From Then

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> July 21st 1944 - Vichy, Allied France  
> 9 months. That's how long it had been since Reyna had left Thalia in Sobibor.  
> How long it had been since she'd heard anything from the German at all.  
> But she had heard how things in German were starting to unravel...  
> If that was anything to go by, then her German was still alive.  
> But she didn't know for sure, and no news was often worse than bad news when you're waiting for someone you love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9 months has passed since the Sobibor Revolt.  
> Reyna has returned to the Allies to end the war, and no one knows what happened to Thalia... Not until now.  
> Hope you enjoy it.  
> Like, comment, and let me know what you think.

July 21st 1944 - Vichy, Allied France

“General! General!” A young French soldier burst into the room where the US General was meeting with his senior officers. The crumbling building in Vichy currently serving as the base for the French government and the Allies fighting with them. All eyes in the room turned immediately to the Frenchman in that moment though.

“What is it Private?” The older American man asked, noticing the paper clutched in his hand as a note from one of the underground networks hiding across Europe.

“There was an explosion at the Wolf’s Lair sir! Yesterday...”

That had all the soldiers in the room stood to attention. The Wolf’s Lair was the hardest place in Germany to infiltrate. It was Hitler’s base, his ‘home’. 

“Did he make it out?” One of the women stood with the General asked desperately.

“We don’t know. I’ve heard nothing else from the network.”

“He got out.”

All eyes turned back to the double doors leading into the room again as a familiarly accented voice rang across the room.

“Nico?” The Italian smiled easily as the youngest American ran around the table to wrap him in a hug.

“Reyna… Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m not the one who’s been in Occupied France.” The man chuckled slightly as the shorter woman punched him in the shoulder.

“Oh, I’m okay… and unfortunately so is Hitler… Injured and shaken up, by all accounts, but very much alive.”

Reyna turned to glance back at the General who had huffed in annoyance, rubbing at his forehead in the manner he always did when he was stressed.

“How do you know for sure?”

A smile tugged briefly at the corners of Nico’s mouth, but he licked his lips and tried to tuck it away as he turned his head to look at Reyna, footsteps echoing against the rubble on the floor of the building in the direction of the door.

“Because I told him.” A new voice said, the accent very clearly German, and making the General and Hylla reach for their guns.

Except… that wasn’t a new voice. It was a voice that froze Reyna to the spot, fighting the tears of utter joy that threatened to spill from her eyes as she turned towards the door, ignoring the grin plastered across Nico’s face as she turned away from him. Her eyes landing on a very specific German uniform, an SS uniform, the badges on the shoulders signifying a Captain’s rank. Raven black hair was shorter than the last time she’d seen her, but her eyes were still as electric blue, skin still pale like she needed to see the sun more, freckles covering her nose and cheeks, everything oh so beautifully familiar.

Reyna had heard nothing from Thalia since she’d left Sobibor 9 months ago.

She’d worried she was dead. In fact, she’d almost accepted the fact that she definitely was dead… and yet there was a woman stood in front of her that looked just like her German, down to the name tag reading ‘Grazie’ across her chest.

“Thalia…” Her voice came out in a choked sob, but the word was clear, and she heard guns being lowered behind her in reaction to the name falling from her lips.

“How the fuck are you still alive?!” Hylla said loudly as she holstered her gun.

Thalia just smirked at the girl before turning her attention back to Reyna.

“Well, I did tell you I’d come back, didn’t I? I-”

The German’s speech was cut short then as Reyna launched herself into Thalia’s arms, unable to stop the tears falling and soaking into the shoulder of the SS uniform as she clung to the taller woman desperately. Reyna wasn’t quite sure if this was real, but no one seemed to be calling her mad so she didn’t pull back other than to rest her forehead against Thalia’s so she could stare into those familiar blue eyes until she was able to find her voice again.

“You’re alive?” It was more a question than a statement, despite the fact that the answer was clearly written in front of her eyes.

“I am, just about…”

The US General cleared his throat then, drawing both women’s attention back to him. 

“I know my daughters know you, Captain. I don’t though… So tell me, how do you know he’s alive?” Thalia straightened up at the question, stepping back a little so she could properly face the man, though Reyna didn’t let her stray too far from her.

“I was there, sir. It was almost successful, but something always goes wrong when we try to do this… I was serving as security, Hitler hadn’t received the message that I was an enemy of the Reich yet, and Stauffenberg was invited so he planted the bomb. Placed it on one end of the table and one of the other people at the meeting moved it. He’s injured but definitely not dead… I have information that might help you General but, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some rest first.”

Reyna gave her father a pointed look as he made to argue and he sighed, nodding his agreement to the German’s request rather begrudgingly. Thalia thanked the man before his youngest daughter had tugged on her hand to get her to follow her through the crumbling building until they reached what must’ve been Reyna’s bunks.

The American locked the door behind them and launched herself back into Thalia’s arms, her lips seeking out the German’s, desperate for that familiar taste that she’d missed so much for 9 months. The two kissing passionately until they were forced apart for air.

“I was worried you were dead…” Reyna murmured, just loud enough for Thalia to catch.

“Not dead.” The German replied with a smile. “Just came close a few times...”

“Let me guess… staying was stupid?”

“No. I did some good before they figured out it was me doing it. Staying wasn’t stupid, getting caught was though.”

Reyna chuckled slightly, eyes watering as she traced the new scars covering Thalia’s face (and likely covering the rest of her too). 9 months was a long time to be stranded in Nazi Germany, especially when the SS leaders want you dead. Reyna didn’t know how Thalia had made it out, but she could see that whatever had happened to her there had taken a toll… She was scarred and bruised, and the brightness had dulled from her eyes a little - that in itself was enough to have Reyna concerned as she tangled her fingers in the short hair at the nape of Thalia’s neck, eyes searching the German’s as she tried to find the right question to ask her…

“Thalia, my love, something’s changed…” Thalia ducked her head slightly at Reyna’s words before she managed to find her own voice again.

“A lot has happened since you left. One thing that hasn’t though, is that I still love you…”

“I know love, I love you too.” The American led Thalia further into the room then. Helping the woman out of her uniform and into more comfortable sleep clothing, before laying down next to her on the makeshift bed in the room. Reyna trailing a hand through Thalia’s hair as the German sighed contentedly, eyes fluttering closed as she sank into the other woman’s touch, finally comfortable for the first time in 9 months.

“What is it, Rey? I can see you want to ask me something…”

Reyna’s eyes snapped back from where they were staring at her own hand in Thalia’s hair, noticing that the German had reopened her eyes, and was looking over the furrowed brow and questioning gaze of the other woman.

“What happened to you out there?” She finally managed to get out in question.

“That will be a long story, my love…”

“We have time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was a massive time skip forwards, but that's just because I wanted a reason to solely focus on Thalia's journey through Nazi Germany (the next chapter). Hope it still worked okay though.


End file.
